Naruto: A Tale of Those Who Endure
by soulfistx
Summary: Experience the story of Uzumaki Naruto; a story of development amidst adversity in aspiring to attain (or determine...) one's goals. His path will converge with others' in every facet of life as a ninja and person, as he grows into a fine Shinobi. (6-Volume Epic, Detail within) *NaruHina*
1. Cover Page

**Naruto: A Tale of Those Who Endure**

**Disclaimer: **Those of you with no prior knowledge or experience of/with the manga or anime 'Naruto' should turn back now.

Welcome readers; boys, girls; men, women; Naruto Fan Fiction enthusiasts of all ages and genders, to my first story! This story will be a 6-book Epic. For those of you who've stumbled across my profile page, you most likely have the vague details. As much as I'd like to reveal more about the story... I can't, or rather, won't. Not only would it be entirely too difficult, but it would ruin the story for you guys! So, let obscurity play it's hand in bringing you a (what I hope to be) exciting thrill-ride, as we take a look at the classic Naruto from an entirely different perspective, and then, go beyond even that, to tell a much broader story. So, without further ado, let the... cover page commence.

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**Questions**

Alright, I sort of lied. There are a few questions that I can answer, so, before you trouble yourself with asking them, let me ease your confusion or anticipation in advance:

1. **What will the pairings be?**

If it hasn't been made clear already, the primary pairing will be between Naruto and Hinata (NaruHina). If you want to know beyond that... all I'll say is that there **will** be other pairings, however, I won't reveal them as that would take away from the story!

2. **Will you be copying canon?**

No, me re-writing canon would be entirely pointless. However, I will be taking a lot of inspiration from canon. You see, Kishimoto-san is a very deep person, something I can appreciate... so I will be introducing a lot of the same growth-concepts that he did, as well as develop his characters in similar ways; although it surely will happen differently. Just to get it out of the way in advance, since I find chapter-to-chapter disclaimers somewhat annoying and redundant: I do not own Naruto 1999-2013 Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto: Shippuden 1999-2013 Masashi Kishimoto, or any concepts, ideas, plot-lines, franchises, or characters associated with the two manga or anime, the story (originally) belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and although I claim this rendition of it (if you will) as mine, I do not claim to own **_anything_** prior; nor do I claim to be affiliated with said owners.

3. **How strong will the main characters be? (Or any related question)**

I know this is a big thing, people are obsessed with the power-progression, in any and all Naruto-fics. I'll say this, the same thing I explained to a friend via PM. The power progression, especially of the main characters will be realistic, but it will be according to how I feel it should have went, if I were managing canon. However, I'm not an ignorant fan, I'm well aware of why everything happened the way it did in canon, and if you don't believe me, you can ask me via PM, I can explain in detail (as much as possible) the reason Kishimoto did any and everything he did with characters in terms of ability-related growth... One thing I can promise though is that, for those who care about this, they will be a considerable amount stronger than they are currently in canon, by the end of book 5; as they'll need to be.

4. **Do you have the story planned out already?**

For the most part, yes. I know for the most part what will happen in terms of major events from Book 1 - 6, who will die, who won't, what major arcs will happen when... etc. So, you don't have to worry about me just 'winging' the story.

5. **Lemons?**

Yes, I will be including lemons. No, they won't be frequent. Yes, they will make sense and fit into the story. You can stop by my profile to view my _general_ opinion when it comes to lemony content.

6. **Shadow Clones?**

****Requested: Since several people have asked me this already, I figured I'd release the reason Naruto is already able to perform the Kage Bunshin. This reason is directly from my personal _notes_; so, with that said, it's not in my usual detail or writing style. Nevertheless, it should shed some light on the issue.**

"_Naruto, after failing the Genin exam the first time around (he only failed once in this story) purely because of his inability to perform the Bunshin (after literally YEARS (4+) of practice) decided to try to find some 'new and awesome jutsu' to help him pass the exam. Naruto, having been around the 3rd Hokage so much as a child obviously knew about the room which held the 'secret scroll' rumored to hold many great and powerful (forbidden - this was unknown to Naruto) techniques. He had always, as a kid asked the Hokage to see scrolls (any scrolls) from the village archive however the Hokage had always turned him down telling him that 'one must learn to walk before they consider trying to run', this however, was not Naruto's way of doing things... at all; but up until this point he had never been desperate enough to question the 3rd's words, let alone contradict them. Back to the 'present', Naruto obtains the scroll in a very similar fashion to how he did in the anime, he runs off and manages to learn Kage Bunshin from it (since this is really much more on track than what he had been thinking of trying to learn, he reasons) (just picture any A rank fire style...) but is quickly found by the Hokage himself. Sarutobi knows about Naruto's failing and is willing to understand his position, especially given his case he realizes how difficult it would be to concentrate and taper such a vast reserve of Chakra. Not knowing what Naruto has managed to learn yet, he decides to let Naruto off with a slap on the wrist and agrees to let Naruto borrow a scroll pertaining to the history of clones in the leaf village... This is how Naruto learns so much about clones so fast in this story and how he already knows them despite the Mizuki/Ikura arc never taking place. Naruto will have a close relationship with Iruka, but it won't be like the manga exactly... _  
_In regards to what happend to Mizuki... I plan to reintegrate Mizuki in a similar fashion to his second-coming in a filler arc from the anime. It will be a good side-arc for our heroes to take part in. I won't explain how or why this is so important for the story or our heroes, but by the end of Book 1 or 2, you should know._"

**Keep in mind this all took place **about 1 year** **before Chapter 1** of Naruto: TWE**  
**

7. **Update Consistency...?**

In a short answer: Two to Three times every Two Weeks. (~6 Times a Month)

However, it's not set in stone, if I'm particularly motivated, have tons of free time, or just feel the need to follow up the previous chapter, I will most likely update twice in one week... Or, in converse, if I become increasingly busy, then I'll probably have to say 2 weeks at the most.

*If I ever take more than two weeks to something, check my profile. Odds are I'm either not there (as in, I went somewhere) and I left a reason there), or, I'm dead. I will **not** forget about or abandon the story. I'm writing it more for myself than anyone else, although, I love the idea of being able to share it and let other people (ideally) enjoy it as well.

**Note:** Always feel free to PM me, about anything relating to the story, and I'll answer as soon as possible.

* * *

**Books**

This is the 'Book Chart'. It will be updated at the latest, once every book-transition. It may eventually grow into something a little more, containing information about the books or whatever I happen to think of.

**Book 1: **

**Title: **Awakening

**Status:** In Progress

**Timeline: **Ages 11 - 13

**Projected Length: **60-75 Chapters

**Rating: **T

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**Book 2: **

**Title: **-

**Status:** Drafting Concepts

**Timeline: **Ages 13 - 15

**Projected Length: **45-50 Chapters

**Rating: **T/T+

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**Book 3: **

**Title: **-

**Status:** Rough Concept

**Timeline: **Ages 15 - 16.5

**Projected Length: **50-60 Chapters

**Rating: **M

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**Book 4: **

**Title: -**

**Status:** Rough Concept

**Timeline: **Ages 16.5 - 17.5

**Projected Length: **50-60 Chapters

**Rating: **MA

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**Book 5: **

**Title: -**

**Status:** -

**Timeline: **Ages 17.5 - 18.5

**Projected Length: -**

**Rating: **M/MA

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**Book 6: **

**Title: -**

**Status:** -

**Timeline: **Ages 18.5 - 20

**Projected Length: -**

**Rating: **M/MA


	2. Serendipity

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 1 - Serendipity**

**A/N: Outfits won't be explained or described in any fashion until they're changed. From chapter 1 until any time of change, the outfits can be assumed to start the same way they did in Episode 1 of Part 1 of Canon- Naruto. I felt the need to mention this, as I find it very important to know what the characters (and to a lesser extent the surroundings) look like in clear detail when immersing oneself in 'Visual Writing'—the style used 99% of the time in FanFiction works, to simulate the effect of a manga.**

* * *

"NARUTO!" A seemingly exaggeratingly enraged Umino Iruka shouted after a quickly fleeing figure. Said figure was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, the king prankster, resident Jinchūriki and self-proclaimed future Hokage of the Konohagakure no Sato._ 'That is the last time I follow that kid into a store!'_ thought Iruka. Adeptly dodging the abundant morning foot-traffic and various obstacles characteristic of the market, he opted to take to the roof-tops until he was out of the business district.

_'Dammit!'_ Naruto thought between labored breaths, hugging a wrapped bundle close to his chest, _'He's getting closer!'_ Hesitantly looking over his shoulder, his fears were validated as a quickly approaching Iruka invaded his field of vision. He quickened his pace, despite the painfully obvious protest of his lungs. _'I thought we were friends!'_... Despite what one may imagine, it was a not a prank that Naruto was fleeing for his life in the aftermath of, but a loan of sorts... a loan which hadn't been discussed with... or agreed to by the loaning party.

It had been known to the majority of people that for the longest time, Naruto had a crush on Haruno Sakura; being the dedicated, determined and... out-going person that he is, he had openly professed his attraction to the young kunoichi acolyte on many-an-occasion. Unfortunately for Naruto, much like many things in his short life of 11 years, those feelings hadn't been returned, appreciated, or even accepted for as far back as he could recall. Some would say that the truly unfortunate fact was that he didn't quit, while some would find it endearing... others though, namely Sakura, found it disgusting and would stop at nothing to make it absolutely clear to anyone within earshot (along with the majority of females in Konoha, ages 8-15) that she was madly in _love_ with Uchiha Sasuke; the lone survivor of the once famed Uchiha clan.

Naruto, never one to quit and being tired of being so harshly brushed off (especially in addition to the rest of what he has to shoulder on a regular basis) decided to try a different approach. He'd heard, or rather observed, that what girls seemed to appreciate more than powerful declarations of undying love (whatever that _really_ was) was fairy-tale-romantic gestures. Once again, Naruto, never one to knock a method of doing something—especially in a realm of vast inexperience—decided to finally give the latter a shot.

Pulling back the wrapping of his bundle ever so slightly, Naruto re-engaged his earlier train of thought. _'I just wanted to buy one of those bouquets for Sakura-chan... but they were just so expensive. I didn't think Iruka-sensei would be so upset! I mean, it's just a loan, he knows I'll pay him back!'_ Once again, Naruto turned his head ever so slightly to check on the progress of his pursuer. _'If I can just make it to the Academy! Th-then I'll give the bouquet to Sakura-chan a-and I'll run back home, he'll never guess!'_ He smiled at his obviously ingenious plan between gasps for scarce oxygen. _'Besides, if Sakura-chan agrees to go on a date with me, it'll all be worth it..dattebayo!'_ Passing a familiar tree, Naruto recognized his location and began to redirect himself toward the front-entrance of the Academy main building.

Amid the obnoxious pretense of the classroom, in the middle column and back row sat the tranquil Hyūga Hinata at the two-person desk, patiently waiting alone for the class to begin. However, despite her outward silence, her mind was bubbling with thoughts; despite their abundance however, her thoughts held two primary foci: firstly, _'Where is Iruka-sensei? He's usually here several minutes before class begins;'_ and secondly, with the occasional spared glance to the available seat adjacent to her _'Where is Naruto-kun?'_ A gentle blush dusted her cheeks at the thought.

Despite Naruto being a notorious prankster and truant, he always would show up in the mornings. Now, quite in contrast to Hinata's wishes, Naruto would seldom sit next to her, and when he did, he would be almost completely oblivious to her presence. It's not that Naruto was a rude person, or didn't like her, it was simply that she never stood out. Aside from their occasional exchanged greeting (much to said Hyūga's joy), between Naruto falling asleep during lessons, playing pranks, or trying to procure a date... he simply never slowed down enough to focus.

_'Naruto-kun...'_

* * *

"Made it!" Naruto exclaimed to himself as he rounded into the academy, gripping the side of the nearby wall to diminish his momentum, while pulling himself slightly inwards with an outstretched arm to ease the sharp turn. Skidding to a halt inside the building, he quickly pivoted his head left, right and over his shoulder, frantically checking for Iruka.

"Okay... I just have to get to class now and find Sakura-chan," he said, slightly sing-songing the end of his sentence. He righted himself, satisfied that Iruka wasn't anywhere nearby and began his skip to class, grinning from ear-to-ear all the way.

Step after step, Naruto continued to class. He was entirely lost in his own little world, fantasizing about a certain pink-haired kunoichi finally accepting his feelings and going on a date with him... Up until now, most would have thought it'd be impossible for his grin to have grown any larger. _'What, Sakura-chan? You want to kiss me...! Well, alright then... Heeheehe...'_

But, as everyone knows, the higher you are—physically or mentally—the harder you fall; and fall Naruto did, upon hearing a loud call of "Where is he?!" emanating from where Naruto presumed to be the front-entrance.

"Crap! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto hurriedly dashed to the (luckily) nearby classroom door. Throwing it open, he leapt to the center of the room and from there, into the rows of desks in two swift bounds. Taking pause at the desk where Sakura was seated, he thrust the red, rose bouquet into her arms and let out in haste, "These-are-for-you-Sakura-chan!", still in mid-dash.

Not giving her a chance to react, Naruto continued his mad-dash and leapt clean over the desk and its occupants, attempting to catch himself with one outstretched arm on the top of the desk now immediately under him. He only succeeded in sliding off and landing back-first on the ground behind said desk. This desk, just happened to be the one Hinata was seated at.

"N-naruto-kun? A-are you alright...?" Hinata barely choked out, still surprised that the primary occupant of her thoughts seemingly swooped in out of nowhere.

"Err..." Naruto groaned, still rubbing the back of his aching head.

"Hinata? Oh hey, I didn't mean to surprise you. I was just passing through to give Sakura-chan some flowers; I've gotta get out of here though, before Iruka-sensei shows up..." Naruto spoke while shakily standing up, still mildly disoriented.

"I-I see.. w-wel—"

"NARUTO!" An earsplitting screech rang out, promptly silencing Hinata and drawing the attention of a good majority of the present class.

Naruto turned his head only to be greeted by a familiar bouquet colliding with his face. "S-Sakura-cha**—**"

"SHUT UP!" Came the vicious reply.

Before Naruto could even open his mouth in protestant confusion, Sakura continued. "I'm sick of your crap, Naruto! You almost hurt Sasuke-kun! Who the hell do you think you are just jumping over his head like that...?!"

A subtle glance at her eyes would reveal that Sakura's explosive outburst was in anger with her own circumstances, above anything else. Naruto had done his best lately to ease her struggle, but it had clearly been a vain effort.

Naruto began to open his mouth to reply, but his usual gusto escaped him; his gaze diverted downward—the newly forming creases around his eyes showed his further deflation at the all too familiar sting of rejection... and contempt.

"WELL?!" Came the shout from the still-ferocious pink-haired kunoichi.

Hinata spoke in an almost inaudible whisper, "Sakura-san..." She held one hand in a semi-clenched fist near her person...  
It was clear that Hinata was beyond displeased with Sakura's behavior, especially as it was directed toward Naruto. And while it was clear that the rest of the class more or less shared in that sentiment, at least to some extent, none cared enough to voice it... to reach out.

It was happening again. Hinata had always been, to say the least, saddened, by Sakura's treatment of Naruto; however, as someone with low self-esteem she had always rationalized to blame herself for Naruto's suffering. Looking around the room, it was evident that Naruto was still alone, despite having made great strides; and if someone, namely her, were to just stand up for him or reach out to him even once, his life could be made that much more bearable... that much brighter. She felt like a hypocrite. How could she say she cared for Naruto, if she was indirectly contributing to his suffering. The lack of an answer disgusted her... her own weakness disgusted her.

* * *

Iruka, dashing around the corner finally concluded his hastened approach to his class. He slid the door open with authority and with a quickened step approached the center of the classroom; that is, until he noticed the ongoing spectacle...

* * *

"Are you mute now or something Naruto-baka? Because normally, we can't get you to shut the hell up! You're always going on and on about how you're going to be great, how people will recognize you, accept you, like you... that will never happen Naruto... because you're annoying, stupid, incompetent!..."

Naruto visibly flinched at each of her choice words... his gaze remained fixed at his feet—his hair casting the ever-necessary shadow over his dejected view; as it hid the lone bead of sadness which only continued to grow on the sill of his eye. He'd long since given up asking the question 'Why?', forsaking it for the more reliable 'When?'

Hinata leveled her gaze with Sakura's, although Sakura refused to make eye contact as she was still piercing into Naruto with malice.

Hinata clenched her fist, and spoke again, with stronger conviction clearly evident in her voice. "Sakura-san..."

**"And you're the last ****_thing_**** on this planet that anyone would ever care for!"**

A single tear trailed it's way down Naruto's cheek... it landed on the floor with an agonizing lack of sound. Naruto's mind raced, though Naruto was long past the point of facilitating conscious thought; his soul lamented, omitting cognizance to dull the ache.

_'Why do they keep looking at me like that...'_  
_"..."_  
_'I was... I was just looking at the mask...'_  
_"..."_  
_'Jii-chan, why don't I have any parents...?'_  
_"..."_  
_'My name is Uzumaki Naruto!'_  
_"..."_  
_'I will be Hokage! I'll make them all accept me! Then they'll see... the real me..'_  
_"..."_  
_**'Will I..? Will they...?'**_  
_**"..."**_

Unbeknownst to Naruto, the tears continued at a slow drizzle, the first having merely been a forecast.

The growing spectacle now had the attention of the entire class.

By this point Iruka had decided to take action, but before he could speak...

"Sakura!" Hinata yelled (louder than anyone previously knew she was capable of).

"Y-You're wrong about Naruto-kun! He is not a stupid or annoying or incompetent, he's a caring person that's just wanted to make you happy... and to be happy himself! He's had no one Sakura, he'd been all alone his entire life... he had to deal with more than most people three times his age have ever experienced; yet he still pushed forward with a smile on his face."

An inspired smile slowly crept it's way onto Hinata's face, as if to crescendo in parallel to her speech.

"He's a kind, loving and bright person who tries his best at everything he does and refuses to give up..."

With the introduction of a new voice, the change in atmosphere slowly brought Naruto out of his internal cycle of lament.

_'Is-is that Hinata? Is she talking about... _me_?'_

Naruto opted to listen, as he slowly turned his gaze, still moderately tear-stricken toward a passionate Hinata. He observed in awe as she continued...

"Naruto-kun has plenty of people who care about him... and who want him to succeed. He has Iruka-sensei, Hokage-sama, Teuchi-san, many of our classmates here..."

The class, at this point in time, seemed to exude a collective smile at her words.

Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment with her finale...

"And myself especially... who happens to care for him deeply!" Hinata finished, without a hint of doubt or trepidation in her voice. Her eyes were now locked intensely with Sakura's wavering gaze.

* * *

Long after class had commenced, Naruto's thoughts still lingered on a certain Hyūga...

_'I've always thought Hinata-chan was a nice girl... she's never looked at me with anything but kindness or acceptance as far back as I can remember...'_

_'She said all those nice things about me too... does she really feel that way? Does she really understand?'_

However, despite his introspective questioning, one glance at his desk-mate would instantly serve to validate everything that had happened... and only further affirm his newfound respect for her.

Naruto chose to spend the rest of class stealing occasional sideways glances at Hinata. Little did he know, she was fully aware of each and every glance; and despite her earlier confidence, she was still back to her same old self when Naruto became the subject of thought.

_'H-he k-keeps looking at me... Is Naruto-kun upset about what I said earlier? No... he doesn't look upset, he looks nervous...'_

Simultaneously Naruto happened to be thinking along the same lines as Hinata...

_'Argghh! I really want to say something to her... but what do I say?! 'Thank you'? Then I'd look like an idiot!'_ Naruto thought while taking another glance... mentally kicking himself, repeatedly, for his cowardice.

_'Say something, Naruto!' _he told himself.

Alas, a final glance only served to set him back to square one.

_'I am so hopeless...'_

* * *

And thus, the school day ended.

As she exited the the academy building, she caught sight of a lone swing flimsily held by two tethers to a low-lying branch... she couldn't help thinking_ 'I hope Naruto-kun will be alright...'_ as she prepared to make her lonely trek home; at this point in time she could hardly even recall a time when she'd been escorted back to the Hyūga Compound. Ever since her 'further descent' in the eyes of her family, she had more or less been left to her own devices, and while this gave her a long-sought after freedom, it only served to amplify the cold, critical emptiness that she'd long since been forced to accept as commonplace.

"Hinata-chan!" a voice promptly broke her out of her musings.

_'N-N-Naruto-kun! D-Did h-he just c-call me Hinata-c-chan?!'_ she exclaimed to herself in a barely choked out whisper. She now sported a powerful crimson blush across her face.

Quickly turning she was met with the gaze of two powerful cerulean orbs. "Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"Well... you see the thing is Hinata-chan, I've been trying to work out how to say this all day... I guess the most important thing is though, that I really wanted to thank you, for what you said... you know?" He said, hoping she'd understand him.

She simply nodded, still trying to process her new 'title.'

"Ok well, the next thing is... and I'm not sure how to ask this, since... well... would you like to be my friend, Hinata-chan?" He involuntarily winced his eye in anticipation for what he hoped wouldn't come.

Momentarily snapping back to reality she was able to reply with "O-Of course, Naruto-kun. I would love to b-be your friend." As she involuntarily brought her hands together in front of her, pressing her two pointer fingers together.

Visibly relaxing, he decided to continue. "Thats great! So, Hinata-chan, I was going to go to Ichiraku's, did you maybe want to come with me?" he said, brandishing his trademark grin, one that most had come to view as a metaphorical beam of sunlight.

Hinata froze for an instant. _'I-Is he a-as-asking me o-out on a _date_?!'_ A massive blush spreading across her face at the thought...


	3. Food for Thought

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 2 - Food for Thought**

**A/N:** **First off, yes, this chapter is earlier than I said it would be, _and_ it actually would have been even earlier, if I wasn't such a chronic procrastinator; check my profile for details as to why it's early. Now... ****I would like to thank everyone for the kind and somewhat overwhelming response; it was quite unexpected that this story would 'hit-it-off' with so many people after just one chapter... damn, now I feel like I owe you guys more... Or, that could just be me getting high on your motivational fumes. Whatever the case, please enjoy Chapter 2.**

* * *

_'I-Is he a-as-asking me o-out on a date?!'_ Hinata was in utter shock. This had been something she'd anxiously hoped to be asked for years now, yet her mind refused to accept, or rather, to allow her to accept, by refusing to restore motor and verbal capacity to her blissfully stunned person.

Naruto still had his eyes on Hinata, and he was beginning to wonder if she was alright...

Naruto, deciding it was best to ascertain her condition by more direct means, proceeded to inch forward; he craned his neck slightly to get a clearer look into her eyes. Not satisfied, however, with the results of his brief analysis, he persisted by waving a hand before her still unresponsive gaze while asking "Umm... Hinata-chan? Are you okay? You were fine a second ago, now you're bright re—"

But, before Naruto could finish his statement, he was abruptly cut off by the seemingly frozen girl in front of him beginning to slowly rock back and forth. It was then that Naruto realized—she had fainted.

"Ahh! Hinata!" he exclaimed in worry. Jumping into action, he swiftly—with reflexes to be expected of a ninja in training—wrapped his arms around her, pulling her forward slightly to prevent her otherwise inevitable crash. She fell slack against his frame, her head brought to rest on his shoulder.

_'What happened to her?' _Naruto wondered. _'I guess she's just tired... a lot happened today.'_

Naruto silently continued his musings as he cautiously maneuvered Hinata off of himself and seated her (as best he could) against the conveniently nearby tree, wanting her to be as comfortable as possible when she arose.

_'Well, I don't know when she'll wake up, and there's no way I'm going to just leave her here...'_ He let out a calm sigh. _'I guess... I'll just wait.'_ Naruto expertly lowered himself adjacent to his unconscious friend, legs settling from a perpendicular stance to one resembling a balanced triangle. Taking a deep breath he let his sight wander, occasionally allowing it to settle on one thing or another; he satiated his boredom, but more importantly, occupied his immediate thoughts with empty distraction.

Several minutes later, Hinata woke with a start.

_'Where am I? D-Did I...'_ It was then that her memories began to come together, elucidating her situation.

_'I-If that happened... then where is Naruto-kun...'_ Her heart slowly sank at the thought of Naruto having left... and perhaps even having changed his mind about the two of them being friends...

"Oh, Hinata-chan? You're awake! Ready to go get dinner?" Naruto let out in succession, pulling her from her distressing thoughts.

Up until now, Hinata hadn't noticed the presence right beside her; she hadn't even registered the pressure on her shoulder until this moment. Everything coming together at once, she hesitantly began to turn her head to the right, her newfound hold on the grass beneath her tightening with her hand's grip. Daring to open her eyes further as she turned, for a clearer view, she was happy to find Naruto, observing her with his usual brightness, a slight questioning tick evident in the positioning of his now raised eyebrows.

"Hinata?" he prompted.

She opened her mouth slightly, in an attempt to speak; but her words remained caught in her throat. _'N-Naruto-kun is s-so close. I-I—' _Her blush returned with a vengeance, only intensifying with the continuation of her thoughts.

Her thought was never completed, however, as the sensory overload became too much for the poor girl to handle; alas, she once again entered the realm of unconsciousness, her head curtly slumping against her chest.

"Aww man, not again!" Admist a sigh, he managed, "At least she was already sitting this time... wouldn't want her to fall."

Resigning himself to patience, he chose to lay back against the tree; noting how peaceful it seemed to be, he let his gaze shift to the right, something he instantly regretted.

In front of his very eyes was one of the most powerful physical reminders of his childhood loneliness—something that happened to be particularly on his mind at the moment. Letting out a lightly pained sigh, he rose from his seat and, with more resolve, approached the dated swing.

* * *

As her eyes fluttered open, she immediately began to recall the events that had led to her fainting. _'So Naruto-kun wasn't asking me on a date... speaking of Naruto-kun, where is he?'_ she thought somewhat absentmindedly, as she let her eyes roam the area in search of the blond ninja.

She found him fairly quickly, sitting upon that swing that seemed to have become a second-home to him in the not-so-distant past. Hinata had observed from afar, even during his saddest times she had always been there, if to do nothing more than acknowledge him, whether he was aware of it or not. Though, what saddened her at the moment was the look in his eyes. It was a look Hinata had come to respect, but seeing it weighing on her crush broke her heart; it was a look of painfully determined pride, the truly heart-breaking part was, however, that it only served to reflect a fraction of that pain and determination. Yet, despite that, he was such a bright and happy person. The simple fact that he had _that_ much love in his heart, where even after he had to make room for all the pain, he still had more than enough light to radiantly exude for all to see, was a truly inspiring and endearing quality that she'd come to love...

Today, though, she could see there was more to his expression, something it would take a genuinely experienced and dedicated eye to catch. She resolved to speak, and hopefully find out what was bothering him.

"N-Naruto-kun..." she started, as she rose from her position against the tree, "Are you alright?" She silently hoped for a revealing response.

Naruto was shocked out of his trance at the sound of Hinata's voice. He had been unaware of how deep in thought he was... he had at first perceived her voice as part of his contemplation, as his thoughts had, most recently, been about her. So, he was shocked when the 'Dream-Hinata' suddenly seemed so real and... worried.

He swiveled his head so fast, that he ended up pulling a muscle in his neck. Wincing slightly, he got his first look into her eyes... did she know? Still attempting to evade his thoughts, he deflected the question.

"Oh, Hinata-chan! You're finally awake, I was starting to get worried, heheh..." He exclaimed in his best imitation of his usual jubilant tone, rubbing the back of his head as he snickered on.

"You must have been hungrier than you let on, to keep fainting like that!"

"We'd better get going then," he added quickly, trying to assert finality. Despite the act, his eyes betrayed him, reflecting the same worry they did before. This was something Hinata did not miss.

"A-Alright, Naruto-kun..." she said, doing her best to smile, though she was slightly saddened that he was avoiding his emotions, again.

* * *

The pair walked through the village at a relaxed pace, both of them observing everything around them, except each other. They both knew they wanted to say something to each other, but, almost as a repeat of their experience in class earlier that day, they were both tongue-tied.

But as they neared their destination, they finally came across something that caught Naruto's eye.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. Isn't that guy over there a Hyūga? You think he might be looking for you?" Naruto questioned obliviously, bringing one hand above his eye, cupped in a searching gesture. Hinata however, once catching sight of the aforementioned man, visibly stiffened.

"Naruto-kun... L-Let's go this way," she quietly suggested, almost in a whisper; but the actuality of her intent was made evident as she lightly tugged on the arm of Naruto's jacket.

"H-Hinata, w-wait!" He struggled to get out as she was now pulling him toward a divergent street. "Aren't you even gonna say 'hi' to the guy?!" Naruto exclaimed, still being pulled.

Continuing to half-heartedly struggle, he persisted "H-Hinata! Ichiraku's is in the other direction! W-wait!"

Hinata, in a rare act of courage, completely tuned Naruto out as she continued to 'guide' him through the narrow alley; She forged on, her gaze straight ahead, and before Naruto could protest any further, Hinata gently interrupted, "N-Naruto-kun, we're here." Raising her hand, she pointed at the sign reading 'ラーメン一楽.'

Completely abandoning his previous train of thought, he glanced up, then, turning around to observe his surroundings, let out an exaggerated cry of distress. "Ahh! I can't believe I never noticed that before!" Slapping his hand against his face he continued in a muffled voice, "I've been walking around the block for years... every time I left from the academy!"

He continued to wallow in grief as Hinata led him to the ramen stand by the arm. "D-Don't feel bad Naruto-kun... I was just guessing, I h-had no idea about this path," she consoled him, as she pushed the cloth partition aside, allowing both of them to enter unobstructed.

"Oh! Naruto!" Teuchi, the proprietor of Ichiraku Ramen exclaimed exuberantly. He was overjoyed to see his favorite customer, and with a friend, no less! He knew he could use this. Even though Naruto and him have developed quite the friendly relationship over the years, with Naruto being such a frequent customer and all, they'd had many opportunities to talk. And, with friendship, comes harmless... fun(?) at each other's expense.

"Oi! Occhan!" Naruto greeted with identical ethusiasm, a hungry grin plastered on his face, waving his arm to and fro—despite the limited space in the humble restaurant.

"So, Naruto. Who's your girlfriend there?" Teuchi asked in mock curiosity. If one were to look closely enough, they'd notice a devious tick of a smile, tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"What! Occhan, what the hell are you talking about! Hinata-chan's _not_ my girlfriend!" Naruto exclaimed in rapid succession, explicitly stressing the 'not.' "We just..." Naruto paused, visibly struggling to find the right way to word the day's previous... events.

Hinata, seeing his struggle, chimed in, "...formally met today, we're only f-friends—"

"Good friends," Naruto finished with a hesitant smile, glancing at Hinata. Upon seeing each other, both inexplicably blushed and sharply diverted their gazes; though both, albeit unconsciously, refused to move from their near shoulder-to-shoulder position.

Teuchi merely chuckled. "I see, I see..." _'Oh, Ayame would _love_ to see this! Heheh, all the best things happen when you go out on delivery runs, my dear.'_

Naruto, finally over his embarrassment, decided to move things along. "Alright! Let's eat, I've been waiting all day for this!" he cheered, whilst rubbing his hands together. Hinata took a seat at one of the barstools, patiently waiting for Naruto to come down from his ramen-fantasy-induced high.

"Alright, alright Naruto. So, what'll it be for you and your '_good _friend'?" Teuchi asked, emphasizing the 'good,' with a wink aimed at Naruto for good measure.

"Occhan!" Naruto cried, clearly exasperated with his friend's behavior. Then, a thought occurred to Naruto: "Say, Hinata-chan" he asked, getting her attention, "Did you want me to order for you?" he finished, curiously—his eyes now focused on her.

"U-Umm... I-I'm s-sure you kn-know what's g-good here, Naruto-k-kun. I-If you don't m-mind ordering for me, Naruto-kun, I-I w-would like that..." she said with a reflexive bow, blushing furiously as she lowered her head slightly.

"Oh? Okay, g-great!" Naruto replied, still trying to process her reaction to such a (what he thought to be) simple question. Naruto settled for ordering them both a bowl of Tonkatsu (豚活) Ramen, as he knew he'd most likely be getting more; he wanted Hinata to get to try one of his favorites.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi replied, eager to get to work. With Teuchi turning around to get to work, Naruto decided that he was finally in the clear, but, to be safe, he still took a seat a safe 1-stool distance away from Hinata. In truth though, both of them knew why he opted for the small gap.

_'I can't believe it, I still can't talk to her. What is it about this? Why is it so damn difficult!?'_ Naruto thought in frustration. He dared to spare a sideways glance toward Hinata, however, upon making eye contact, he quickly shifted his gaze back to its idle post—observing the already memorized Ichiraku menu.

_'Naruto-kun... why won't you talk?'_

_'Why can't I talk! She cares about me, she actually said it... the others, they care, but... they're different, they, they... no. _This _is different... she actually...—'_

Before his thoughts could consolidate, however, Teuchi re-engaged the casual conversation he had partially initiated earlier. "Say, Naruto, whatever happened with that Sakura girl? I saw you running by this morning with some flowers; did your plan work out?"

_'P-Plan?'_ Hinata thought, slightly confused; she was intently listening, now.

Naruto, however, visibly stiffened at the mention of the pink-haired kunoichi's name. His gaze fell and his entire being seemed to take on a morose posture. This was something that didn't go unnoticed by Teuchi.

Genuinely concerned, Teuchi carefully probed, "What's wrong Naruto? Did something happen? I mean, I know you've said Sakura can be harsh, but you've never been s—"

He was cut off mid-sentence, not by Naruto's volume, but by his frightening lack of it. "I-It, didn't work out," he said without voice, as if he was mentally far away.

And far away he was.

"T-Teuchi-san, what was the plan you were talking about?" Hinata urgingly inquired.

"Ah, well, it was nothing much. A rather sweet gesture though, sweet but simple. You probably know this better than me, Hinata-chan, but Naruto's been quite smitten with that young girl for a while now. He wasn't a fool though, as dopey as he is, he was aware that she doesn't have much interest in him... to put it lightly. But, again, as you know, he's such a kind soul; as far as I was told, Sakura hadn't been feeling her best lately, apparently she'd been having some romantic problems of her own... he wanted to cheer her up, so, although he was trying to hopefully win her over in the process, he genuinely just wanted to make her smile, a 'real smile' as he put it. For a kid his age, he really is _too_ well familiarized with human emotion, you know..."

Hinata merely nodded, a slow sad nod. At the moment, she was too awash with conflicting emotions to muster a verbal reply.

"Well, anyway, his plan was to try being as nice and romantic as possible... He did his research, spent what extra money he had, and even came up with some crazy little schemes that I remember him describing to me... all to make her happy. He was so convinced that that bouquet he got would work, he even came to me last night and told me; 'Occhan,' he said, 'I got an idea that I know'll work for sure, -ttebayo!' with that devilish little grin of his on his face..."

Hinata flinched at the mention of the rose bouquet. At the moment, sadness had claimed the reigns of her emotional palette; a stray tear found its way sliding down her delicate skin, falling off to land on the counter with a resounding _plip_.

"For him to be like this... what did that girl do to him..." Teuchi concluded, not really asking the question. Shaking his head in sad wonder, he continued to cook.

Wiping the threatening tears from her eyes, Hinata turned her head to look upon the still desolate Naruto.

"_Naruto-kun..."_ she softly whispered, her heart aching in resonance with his.

Naruto unconsciously reacted to this. Moving forward slightly he brought his elbow up to rest upon the counter-top; propping the side of his face against his open palm, his splayed fingers served to partially cover his tired, blank stare. Emotionally and mentally exhausted, he subconsciously preferred to drown in thought.

* * *

Long after all the students had gone home, long after all the teachers had gone home, long after the day had ended, the sounds of someone arduously training could be heard echoing throughout each and every hallway, courtyard and classroom.

Amidst the scurry and scuffle, signifying the emergence of the more noctournally-inclined creatures, there rang out the distinct sound of metal colliding with metal, oddly harmonizing with the occasional dull _thud_ of metal striking sturdy wood, along with the rare clawing sound of said metal embedding itself in or against gravely soil.

Upon closer inspection, if one were to follow the sounds, a young man was to be found. Deftly landing on both sandal-covered feet with a slight sway to his gravitationally influenced arms, the young man numbly whispered, "Again."

Jumping an impressive height in the air, having kicked off the ground with one foot, and having one knee raised to his chest; he began to acrobatically spin until his head was properly perpendicular to the ground. "Now..." came the barely audible, yet coarse whisper.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, his eyes flickered open. They were an ashy onyx in color, with a cold expression tinting them. Flicking his wrists, two kunai came into view (to any observant audience). Throwing those two kunai, with two more subtle wrist motions, one upwards, and one at a 60 degree angle, he spun slightly; angling his arms just right he reached for more kunai.

Swinging his arms to and fro violently, releasing kunai as they went, he began to deflect some of the kunai off of others; others he would seem to let work out their own trajectory. However, his aerial acrobatics continued, he spun, twisted, and flipped, his eyes darting from metal projectile to projectile; seemingly locking them all in his sight—it was clear that this took incredible calculation.

Targets placed in an supposedly random order were struck, although not accurately, some kunai fell to the ground. As it appeared the deflection technique was nearing its ending, the young man threw one last kunai in the air, directly above himself; it quickly lost momentum, reaching it's peak, it turned and began to fall with increasing velocity, toward his vulnerable under-jaw. Apparently prepared for this, he reached into his holster for the final weapon. However, it was then that his expression changed, it changed from one of critical confidence and focus to one of anger and worry. Slightly angling his neck downward so he could confirm his fear, he realized that he was indeed, about to crash into the ground. With a generous pull of his lower back muscles and a twist of his hips, he was able to work his legs over himself and accomplish a 180 degree spin, successfully righting himself. Not having enough time, however, nor the proper positioning to complete his technique, he angrily swung the kunai currently in his hand in an arc above his head, resulting in a resounding metallic _crack_; he successfully blunted his final kunai, saving himself from potential injury.

Surveying the results, even though he already knew them to not be perfect, he let out a simple "Tch." in disgust and annoyance. His eye twitched slightly, as his eyebrow lowered into a passive glare. Raising the triangularly prism shaped blunted-kunai head up to his slightly reduced field of vision, due to the rapidly setting sun casting shadows over the beaten training field. He viewed his split reflection in the dull kunai's warped depiction, one face of the prism'd head, however, was overtly dark; gazing into this darkness, he found himself swimming through an actively repressed memory...

_"Nī-san, Nī-san! Look at me, I can do the kunai throwing too!" a young Uchiha Sasuke exclaimed, proud of his supposed achievement._

_"Oh? Is that so, Sasuke?" replied a characteristically stolid Uchiha Itachi, in his painfully apathetic tone. He gracefully landed from having perfectly executed the Uchiha's 'famous' J__ōnin-class kunai deflection excercise; his fully mature Sharingan still active._

_"Yeah! Don't do that Nī-san, I can tell you don't believe me! You're being mean again!" argued Sasuke._

_"Am I? I apologize," he replied coolly, still not so much as glancing at his younger sibling._

_"Ahh!" Sasuke shouted, running at Itachi._

_Before he could commence with his 'surprise attack', however, Itachi intercepted his stride with an all-too-familiar 2-fingered jab to the forehead._

_"Sasuke. Maybe next time, okay?" Itachi stated, completing his _other_ signature deflection technique._

_"Hmph." was all he got in reply._

_"Sasuke. Look at me."_

_Sasuke turned one eye towards his older brother, the other still pursed in a pout, much like his lips; his arms still folded over his chest in exaggerated defiance._

_"I care for you deeply. I'm just far too busy right now. Alright?" Itachi reasoned._

_"Fine..." Sasuke whined out, though he was secretly happy with his brother, either way... he was happy._

_Itachi reached out with one arm and lovingly ruffled his hair..._

"NO!" Sasuke screamed out, disrupting his memory, and alarming several birds in the nearby area.

"It was all bullshit... After all, you told me yourself... Itachi," he venemously breathed out.

"Accept hatred... Learn hatred... Embody hatred..." he repeated through infuriatingly foggy memory...

"Fuck love," he stated with brutal finality, as he projected the blunted-kunai still in hand with enough force for it to wedge it's way into the coarse soil.

As Sasuke walked away, against the further setting sun, toward the village, the blunted-kunai's metallic surface could still be seen reflecting, with the ever changing shadows, a shadow of a younger Itachi, and a younger Sasuke, split evenly by the still present edge of the kunai. Along a side-face of the weapon, a single drop of clear liquid could be seen running down the reflective face, eventually reaching the buried tip, and sinking into the soil.

* * *

The sun had long since set.

Sasuke had opted to take the path less traveled... home, and had been fortunately able to avoid human contact en route. Falling through the air for a moment, he tensed, then landed stealthily on apartment's railing.

Taking a deep breath and checking for any (unwanted) visitors, he slowly stepped down from his perch and walked towards the door.

Reaching a single hand up and out for the door knob, he gripped it and turned. He paused, as if waiting for a delayed reaction to occur; none ever did. Realization slowly sunk in, and he lowered his hand.

He observed the door for what seemed like an hour... watching it blankly, intently, patiently. Then, as if deciding to stop waiting for the occupants of the home to let him inside, he reached into his pocket, extracted the key, pulled his hand out, reached it forward and pressed the key into the keyhole; turning it, he idly waited for the _click_ to signify the shifting of the lock's internal chambers... releasing it's hold on the door.

The door swung open, inviting him into the darkness.

He entered.

* * *

Several hours had passed and many customers had come and gone, from Ichiraku Ramen. Two customers, however, remained, and so they had for several hours now.

Ayame walked in through the employee entrance and immediately addressed her father. "I'm back, Otō-san." She quickly spared a glance to the two customers, who still remained.

"Oh, welcome back Ayame. Was that the last delivery?" he answered in a slightly subdued tone.

"Mmhm," Ayame responded in turn.

"Alright..." Teuchi let out with a sigh, "We have to close up then, it's already past 10. Do you mind telling them, Ayame? I'll start cleaning up."

"O-Oh, sure," She responded, although slightly sad that she had kick out of their best guests.

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan..." She began, "We actually have to close up shop now, it's getting rather late. You guys should probably be getting home..." She hung on the end of the sentence, unsure how to end her statement.

Naruto replied, much to the surprise of all those present "It's alright, Ayame Nē-chan. We can go, right Hinata-chan?" he asked.

Hinata had been thinking all night, while Naruto had been silent, her mind had not been idle. She had made up her mind that she needed to talk with him; it was her duty as a friend... and her duty to herself, to uphold the promise she made to herself... to be strong for the person she cared about.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-we need to t—" Before she could finish though, Naruto interjected.

"I know, Hinata-chan. Come on, they need to close the store. Let's go for a walk," he said, a faint smile gliding over his lips. Taking a deep breath in an effort to build up his confidence.

He reached into his frog wallet—Gama-chan—pulling out enough Ryō to account for the collectively consumed ramen. He placed it on the counter, with a grateful nodded bow to both Teuchi and his daughter, he decisively turned to Hinata, and with an offering of his hand, gently pulled her from her seat, and out into the night.

* * *

The silence between them was peaceful, for a time. They both needed to organize their thoughts, but it was clear that they'd decided... it was the time to talk.

Hinata happened to speak first. "Naruto-kun... I w-want to apologize for what I did and said in class this morning. It was ignorant of me, and I'm truly sorry for meddling in something that was none of my business. I'm also sorry if I caused any problems between you and Sakura-sa—"

She was pulled from her statement by being wrapped in a powerful embrace... a friendly embrace, she struggled to remind herself.

"Hinata-chan, I don't know what you're apologizing for... I said it earlier, and I'll say it again... _Thank you_. From the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how much what you said means to me..."

Slowly releasing her from the embrace, he settled with his hands on her shoulders, as to make sure that he held her gaze.

"Hinata-chan. You've done something that no one has ever truly done for me. You've reminded me that there _are_ people that care... that I do have people I can turn to. You reminded me that I'm not alone... no. You didn't just remind me, Hinata-chan..."

Her face took on an expression of moderate confusion "W-What do you m-mean Naruto-kun..." She was having exceptional trouble speaking, but she would _not_ pass out, regardless of her proximity to Naruto.

Naruto smiled slightly at this, but it was a genuine smile. "What I mean, Hinata-chan, is that you _promised_ me that I wouldn't be alone... You're my first real friend... Hinata-chan!" By the time the words had left his mouth, his smile had only multiplied in intensity.

After Naruto let go of Hinata's shoulders, they resumed their walk. With Naruto still wearing a happy smile.

After a few minutes, Hinata decided to resume their active conversation. "N-Naruto-kun. I'm h-honored to be your... first real friend," she said, with a steady pink blush lightly shading her face.

She continued with a heavy sigh... "You're sort of my first f-friend as well, Naruto-kun."

Naruto turned his head towards her in surprise "I...I am?" he exclaimed, nearly speechless.

"No way! What about that _huge_ family that you live with? And the other kids at the academy?" He attempted to reason. There was no _way_ someone like Hinata couldn't have any friends either...! Sure she was shy... but she was such a nice person!

"I-It's true, Naruto-kun," she began. "Th-That's part of the r-reason I was avoiding that clan member... earlier," she regretfully admitted.

Naruto was in shock. "Y-You were _avoiding_ him?! But why?" He absolutely couldn't believe it... sure the man looked somewhat cold, snobbish, judgemental and vindictive... but he was family... wasn't he?

"The Hyūga clan is a little bit different... like a lot of the more _noble_ clans, they're very... rigid. Especially in my case as the... ex-heiress of the clan. There was never an opportunity for friendship, or a very healthy childhood," she continued somberly.

_'Ex-?'_ Naruto wondered to himself in surprise, making a mental note to ask about it later.

"That's terrible!" he verbalized. "There's gotta be some law or something against that..." Naruto was truly beginning to get upset, the more he learned about his new best friend... the more he began to realize how similar they truly were...

"O-Oh... we're here, Naruto-kun," Hinata commented, almost off-handedly.

Naruto, broken out of his escalating thoughts, looked up to see the engraved sign reading '日向.'

"W-Well, I-I'll see you later... Naruto-kun," Hinata said, as her mood visibly dropped to something even more devoid of happiness.

"Hinata-chan, wait," Naruto started.

Hinata quickly turned around, curious as to what her crush would ask of her. "Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata-chan. I don't know the full extent of what you have to go through, but I do care, and I hope that you'll tell me some day. But as your first friend, I want to promise you that you never have to be alone again..." Naruto stated, with a rising intonation. As he spoke, he slowly begun to raise his hand, until he had a fist jutting straight out in front of him.

Hinata waited, her mouth slightly open in a gasp.

"Let's always be friends, Hinata-chan... It's a promise, -ttebayo!" he finished, promptly erecting his thumb from the raised fist in a powerful 'thumbs up', he accompanied it with an honest smile, and a look of... inspired determination.

Hinata merely nodded, for she was too overwhelmed with emotion to do more than that; this was the Naruto she'd grown to have such strong feelings for; shedding his burdens, despite the weight, and soaring beyond everything... uplifting those around him. He was her beacon of light.

Happy with the aftermath of his declaration, Naruto decided to bid his new best friend goodnight. After waving goodbye, he took to the roof-tops, in hopes of getting home as fast as possible, given how late it was.

Even after Naruto had left, Hinata stood there for a moment basking in the afterglow. She felt happier than she could remember feeling in a long time; she felt... bright.

Bringing her hands to her chest, gently clenched together, she crouched her head ever-so-slightly as a stray tear of joy ran down her face. Her eyes closed, she smiled and waited another moment... before turning towards the gates of the compound. No longer feeling intimdated by their plain and imposing standing... she stepped forward.

_'Thank you... Naruto-kun.'_


	4. Growing Closer

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 3 - Growing Closer**

**A/N: Yet another chapter, how does he do it?! Well, I don't know how, just kind of getting a feel for the writing process, I suppose. Anyway, as you've probably guessed by now, I like to greet my readers in some way, shape or form at the beginning of every chapter; as a way to sort of maintain 'human' contact. I want to make it very clear that there is a **_**person**_** writing this story, and not a machine! Secondly, reviews. I know this story has already received a generous (and surprising) amount of reviews, but it's not enough! While I sincerely appreciate all the compliments and positive comments; I'd truly appreciate it if more opinions were to be put out there, almost like a discussion—talk to me; what do you like, want to see more of, hate, enjoy, what do you want to ask me (no guarantee I'll answer...); is it too hard to read? am I using too much symbolism? is it just right?... Regardless of what you have to say, I'd like to 'hear' it, so please, **_**vocalize**_**, so to speak. Now, please enjoy Chapter 3.**

** SamHetfield: **Oh, so you noticed this story, I was wondering if you'd see it. I noticed yours a little while ago, I haven't read it yet but I sort of filed it away for later; waiting to see where it goes. Anyway, thanks; and yeah, they are fairly difficult to write.

****UPDATE: As it's been requested (since it has apparently confused several people). The 'reason' for Naruto already knowing Kage Bunshin in this timeline has been posted under the _Questions_ section of my _Cover Page_ Chapter. I didn't release it when first publishing this story as I felt it wasn't really necessary, but, just so everything is all clear and happy, it's up there now.**

* * *

It was a peaceful day. The sun was shining brightly, the foliage was thriving and a chorus of amiable birdsong could be heard throughout the Hidden Leaf Village; almost as if to reflect the mood of it's denizens. Today was a bright day.

If one were to navigate their way through the afternoon-life of the village and continue on, they would soon find themselves nearing the outskirts of the village. Slightly beyond this point of division; seperating the village from the surrounding area, encircling the permimeter of the village, and extending even slightly beyond that, there are training grounds in place for the village's ninja to convene, plan, discover and of course, train.

In one of these sanctioned training grounds, Training Ground 7 to be specific, sat Uzumaki Naruto, upon one of the several training posts erected in the expanse of the grassy field. The training field was littered with various standard ninja tools; strewn about seemingly haphazardly and stuck into the surrounding plant-life, posts and rocks alike were an abundance of shuriken and kunai. It was clear that the grounds had been thoroughly used.

Sitting upon the post, however, Naruto's demeanor was quite in contrast to the rough appearance of the training ground; all but his expression, which clearly betrayed his best attempts at concentration and serenity. His mind was in a similar state...

His facial features scrunched together in a forced attempt at calm, his hands pressed together in a Ram seal in front of his body and a visible sheen of sweat coating his brow, he let out a loan groan of frustration as his mind drove him at a mile-a-minute.

_'Mmmm... Ooo-mmm... Oooo-mmmmm!' _he thought in a vain attempt to impel some sort of result. _'Dammit! One more time!'_

_'Hitsuji-Mi-Tora,'_ he thought in conjunction with his physical formation of the hand-signs. _'__**Bunshin no Jutsu!**__'_

He opened his eyes, expectantly looking to the left and to the right to survey the results of one of his many attempts at the Clone Technique. Upon turning, he was thoroughly disappointed in seeing, once again, two flimsy, pale and 'lifeless' clones sitting on top of the posts on either side of him.

"Dammit!" He shouted, turning his head towards the sky, most likely in hope of some divine intervention. "Everytime I try that jutsu, it blows up in my face!" Seemingly to add insult to injury, the two deficient clones popped out of existence in a cloud of smoke. Slapping his hand against his face in exasperation, Naruto let out in a muffled groan. "I wonder if it was this difficult for everyone..."

Temporarily feeling demotivated, Naruto chose to reposition himself on his perch; opting to shift into a less physically strenuous position—lying down, with his legs hanging off of the edge. Too _tired_ to bother, he ignored the slight ache he felt in his hamstring caused by the wooden cusp of the log.

With a somewhat exasperated sigh, he continued "I wonder if Hinata-chan can do the Bunshin..." With a groan, he dispelled that thought. "What am I saying! Of course she can... she's a great ninja... So what if she's a little quiet... it's kind of nice..." he mused, with a light smile tugging at his lips.

_Her face took on an expression of moderate confusion "W-What do you m-mean Naruto-kun..." She was having exceptional trouble speaking, but she would __**not**__ pass out, regardless of her proximity to Naruto._

_Naruto smiled slightly at this, but it was a genuine smile. "What I mean, Hinata-chan, is that you promised me that I wouldn't be alone... You're my first real friend... Hinata-chan!" By the time the words had left his mouth, his smile had only multiplied in intensity._

_After Naruto let go of Hinata's shoulders, they resumed their walk. With Naruto still wearing a happy smile._

_After a few minutes, Hinata decided to resume their active conversation. "N-Naruto-kun. I'm h-honored to be your... first real friend," She said, with a steady pink blush lightly shading her face._

_She continued with a heavy sigh... "You're sort of my first f-friend as well, Naruto-kun."_

His most recent words leaving a serene sort of echo in his mind _'Kind of nice...'_

His eyebrows raised in thoughtfulness "Speaking of Hinata-chan... I wonder how she's doing right now..."

Leaning back again, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander...

* * *

School had just let out for the day at the Ninja Academy. Students were rushing out of the schoolyard, all at their own individual paces; some met with parents who escorted them home—hand in hand, others took off at high speeds—presumably going somewhere they'd been dying to be, others walked off in groups—seeking to enjoy the day. Few, though, left at a slow pace. For most it was because they were taking in the scenery of late Autumn, for others, namely Hinata, it was because they were deep in thought.

_'I can't believe how well my evening with Naruto-kun went! H-He called me his first real friend... C-Could he maybe...? No... I should be happy to just be his friend. It was only yesterday that I wasn't even able to hold a conversation with him... how could I think such things...'_

Hinata's thoughts continued as she walked through the vast schoolyard toward the exit. She passively admired the Autumn leaves, taking collected steps, the _crunch_ of the fallen leaves could be heard sounding from underfoot. Her gaze settled on the smallest of creatures as they carefully maneuvered through the sparse underbrush, she admired their life from her vantage point; there were times when she wished that life could be that (seemingly) simple for everyone. Such thoughts though, would quickly be rebuffed when she observed the interactions of people and their advanced society...

Hinata now found herself amongst the people of the village, having been progressing along her way; practically having been on auto-pilot. Her thoughts shifted back to the awe and fascination she found in both seemingly simple and complex things; ironically some of the simplest things—upon closer analyzation—would turn out to be some of the most complex and baffling, while, the opposite would be true for things that were supposedly complex. Then there was that gray area... one thing in particular being emotion; specifically human emotion... Was it supposed to be simple; spontaneous; powerful; inexplicable... Or was it supposed to be something calculated; understood; impressive; something with exploitable rules... Or, was it supposed to be both...

One particular emotion that was on her mind, at the moment, was _love_. What was it really... Although she couldn't really bring herself to (attempt to) analyze something so sancrosanct and pure... she still did wonder. She did hear people say it a lot... use it a lot... She wouldn't dare ask one of the people in her more immediate 'circle' of interaction; definitely not her family... or even worse... the person who she was beginning to think she may actually... feel _love_ for...

Unfortunately, her thoughts would never lead her anywhere, as she found herself colliding with someone.

Quickly righting herself, she blurted out in embarrassment "I-I'm s-sorry, I-I wasn't paying at-tention to where I was going!" Crossing her hands in front of herself, she completed the apology with a formal bow; eyes directed at the ground.

For a moment, the other party didn't respond... Hinata looked up and regretted it instantly, making hesitant eye contact she practically whispered "N-Neji Nī-san..."

Hyūga Neji, the stoic, bitter prodigy of the Hyūga Clan and member of the Branch Family stood before her, making a display of straightening his jacket and patting it off. "Really, Hinata-_sama_. There is no need for such formality." He all but bit out the words.

Hinata opened her mouth to speak, but was promptly shut down by Neji raising his open hand in front of him. "I merely have a message for you."

"I was _instructed_ by Hiashi-_sama_ to find you at the academy and deliver a message, I was on my way there until you convinently bumped into me; for once, it seems your clumsiness is of some use."

Neji regarded her with a blank stare; although beneath it you could see a disgusted grimace doing it's utmost to break free to the candid surface. Hinata felt the sting of his words, but simply kept her head down and listened on.

After a brief pause, Neji continued "Your father was concerned about your absence last night."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly in recollection, a barely noticable blush threatening to make itself known.

Ignoring this, Neji spoke on "You must realize, Hinata-_sama_ that regardless of your current irrelevance, you are still a member of the... Main Family. Your foolish escapades cannot be tolerated as such things pose a threat to the clan's _integrity_; if the Byakugan were to fall into the wrong hands, would you want that responsibility on your head?"

Hinata winced at Neji's callous diction, despite her best efforts to remain positive, the stigma and reminder of her looming status of clan pariah didn't fail in driving Neji's words home.

"Even if you were to be lucky enough to survive... in that event."

Her head stooping even further, she tried to fight back the pressure in her eyes; willing them not to begin to water in the face of opposition. "I-I understand... N—"

"That is all, Hinata-_sama_," Neji declared. Expeditiously turning, he walked off in the opposite direction, his stiff posture stubbornly intact.

Taking in a deep breath, Hinata managed to slightly ease her emotional ache. Glancing upwards, she admired the tranquility of the clouds, and in an brief instant, acquired a deep-rooted understanding and appreciation for her classmate Shikamaru's hobby.

_'How do you always stay strong, Naruto-kun...?'_

With that thought, she picked up the pace of her walk, now with purpose, she headed for a seldom used training ground; one which she recently had begun to frequent; Training Ground 8.

* * *

The wind blew in calm waves, sending visual waves of motion throughout the slightly long over-grown grass present in Training Ground 7. This wind also served to slightly dishevel the passing Hinata's hair; though it was nearly imperceptible due to it's short length.

Hinata breathed in the cleaner air as she walked through the slightly isolated extension of the village. She enjoyed the moderate ray of sun cast over the field, it provided a pleasent warmth in compliment to the relief of the breeze. As she continued through the field, she began to notice the weapons scattered about in disarray. _'Maybe someone was training here earlier...'_ she mused. It was possible, although unlikely.

She paid the thought no mind, doing her best to disregard the apparent negligence of the training ground's (previous) occupant. With placid steps, she proceeded, until she caught sight of a figure settled atop one of the training posts. Curious, she changed direction and approached the training posts...

Naruto had been lost in thought, he had been dancing through his mind, touching on different things now and then; but his thoughts always seemed to lead back to his friend, Hinata. Quite to his surprise, he heard the slight rustling of grass being displaced, opening his eyes he raised his upper-body into a sitting position and was only further surprised by his... visitor.

_'Hinata-chan!'_/_'Naruto-kun!'_ they each thought simultaneously, upon seeing the other.

Though still slightly surprised, Naruto was the first to regain enough coherence to open the conversation. Putting one arm down, he lifted himself into a more upgright sitting position.

"H-Hey Hinata-chan! What are you doing here!" he exclaimed, excited that his friend was stopping by, though still curious.

"I was j-just going to a training ground that I've b-been using lately. I-It's very near here actually, it was actually seeing you that b-brought me over..." Hinata finished, trying to hide her blush with a slight turn of her head.

"Oh, well, I've been here pretty much all day. After last night I was too tired to go to school... That, and there was a lot on my mind; especially graduation..." Naruto concluded with a slight decline in energy toward the end of his explanation.

"O-Oh, I see..." Hinata responded; completely understanding what he meant.

Despite her empathy, though, Hinata still gently chided him "B-But Naruto-kun, you really s-should still go to school... The lessons at the academy are important... And people will miss you, if you don't show up..." Not unnoticed by Naruto, Hinata's face displayed a slight sadness at the thought of her crush not being around.

This served to stun Naruto... he couldn't recall a time in his life when he'd been told that he would be... missed. Observing the gentle girl in front of him, thoughts came racing back into the forefront of his mind, once again. With a slight smile, a new calm thoughtfulness became evident in his expression, the corners of his eyes creasing slightly he replied with a new tone; one he'd actually found himself to use quite often, recently. "Y-You really think so, Hinata-chan?"

"I...I d-do, Naruto-kun," she responded, looking up towards him.

A broad grin spread on his face, he jumped down from the training post so as to be at eye level with Hinata. "Okay then, I'll be there! I promise."

Happy with his pledge, Hinata proceeded to ask something that had been bothering her for the last couple minutes "Naruto-kun, why did you say that you're worried about graduation?"

Hinata knew, of course, that Naruto had, had difficulty in the past with written tests and the more tedious side of academics. And although she also knew of his difficulty in passing the jutsu exam that one time, she had full confidence in him this time; she knew how hard he worked on a regular basis and how much potential he really possessed, there was no way he would fail. Which would explain her surprise upon hearing his worry.

With a sigh, Naruto sat down while motioning for Hinata to sit with him. As they both lowered themselves next to each other—Hinata, being careful not to sit too close—Naruto began his explanation. "Well, as embarrassing as this is to say... I can't do _a bunshin_." He mumbled the end of his sentence.

"Excuse me, Naruto-kun. W-What did you say?" Hinata asked, figuring she must have just not heard him.

"I said, I can't _do a Bunshin_," he mumbled, again.

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm sorry, I can't h-hear you..." Hinata repeated.

Deciding to just get it over with, Naruto gave up in his attempt to hide his shame, wincing, he finally came out with it. "I... I can't do a Bunshin." He waited for the laugh, the giggle, the sound of surprise... but it never came.

Looking back at Hinata, it would be an understatement to say he was shocked to see her looking back at him with an expression of mild confusion etched on her face.

"Naruto-kun, y-you can perform the Kage Bunshin, why are you concerned about not being able to create a Bunshin?"

"Well yeah but..." The gears in Naruto's mind slowly began to turn, then it clicked into place... He had never performed the Kage Bunshin anywhere around the Academy before...

"Wait... Hinata-chan... How did you know that I could do that...?" He asked, suspicion heavy in his dragged out sentences.

Quickly realizing her blunder, Hinata began to blush powerfully "N-N-Naruto-kun I-I-I-I d-do-don't k-know... I-I, w—" She was quickly stuttering herself into hyperventilation at the thought of Naruto figuring out that she'd been 'observing' him.

Unaware of the full effect of the implication's affect on his friend, he scooted closer to her and gave her a gentle pat on the back "I was just kidding, Hinata-chan. You probably just saw one of my clones around the village or something; I guess it couldn't stay a surprise forever!"

He leaned back and continued with a sigh "But... the reason I want to be able to do a Bunshin, is because I want to graduate the right way. Even though I have the Kage Bunshin, I want to be acknowledged, not viewed as even more of an outcast... So, it's kind of important to me, I know it's sort of stupid..."

Hinata, by now, had calmed down; especially after being presented with something so important.

"Naruto-kun, it's not stupid, it's very respectable. M-Maybe I could even... help you train?" She offered hesitantly.

Naruto's face instantly brightened at her acceptance. "You'd help me train, Hinata-chan?! That's awesome!"

"But, wait," He considered. "Weren't you going to train too? I wouldn't want to interrupt your training..."

"I-I don't mind Naruto-kun," Hinata replied, looking down as she pushed her two fingers together, once again.

"I was j-just going to try to p-physically train whenever I got the opportunity, since the family dojo is off limits to me, at the moment, I wanted to take some time to prepare for the graduation spar..."

Before Hinata could continue her explanation though, Naruto interrupted "I've been preparing for that too! I have an idea Hinata-chan!"

Hinata looked up at him questioningly, tilting her head slightly to the side.

With a wide grin, Naruto proceeded to explain "I'm not sure why I can't do a Bunshin right, but if you can do one then I'm sure we can figure it out... But, when we meet up to train—since I always start with a more athletic work-out—you can join me for that and we can both get stronger together! Then after that we can both work on our chakra together and you can show me the trick to creating a Bunshin!"

Satisfied, Naruto looked on, awaiting a response.

_'T-Training with N-Naruto-kun every day... B-Being close... Getting s-st-stronger t-together... Being close... H-Helping Naruto-kun... B-Being close!' _Hinata's blush had returned, and was now dominating her entire complexion.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata exclaimed, a little more loudly than she had planned to.

"I-I mean, I would... That s-sounds great N-Naruto-kun, thank you." Show bowed her head slightly, trying to come off as more collected, but also trying to hide her embarrassment (and outward excitement).

He blinked once, to bring himself back into focus "Th-That's perfect then!"

Nodding, Hinata closed her eyes for a moment and softly intoned "_**Byakugan**_"—her hands brought together in a unique seal.

The veins around her eyes now coursing with chakra, she opened her now intensely more focused eyes. She drank in the sights around her, adjusting to her new vision; lightly giggling at Naruto's gasp of _'cool'_. Feeling slightly more confident, she smiled pleasantly and offered a hand to Naruto as she stood "S-Shall we begin, Naruto-kun?"

"Heh, you know it! Dattebayo!" He nearly cheered as he grasped the offered hand.

* * *

_And so, they trained. For the next several months their routine carried on. Naruto began to attend the academy on a regular basis, surprising Iruka (and honestly, the rest of the class). Hinata, being around Naruto so much, slowly began to manage her nervousness around her 'crush'; primarily in public situations..._

_Their conversations carried them to many different subjects, but in general the more painful parts of both of their lives seemed to fade into the white noise; it was a happy time... a happy experience for both them. _

_Their training became something that became an outlet for both of them to forget about the stresses they faced, both in school, in public and at home. They grew stronger together and both felt like they were more prepared; not only for life as ninja, but for dealing with their respective demons. Although they had both lived and grown up in very different situations, they had both always felt alone; but now, that feeling was gone, so they were free to focus on more important things._

_Overall, their friendship simply blossomed. They were always there for each other, and as is known, time flies faster when you're having fun—especially with friends. Before they knew it, graduation was upon them._

* * *

**(2 ½ Months Later; December 31; One day before Graduation—Morning)**

A frigid breeze blew through the trees of Konoha, rustling the leaves; pulling some of the stem-borne organs from the already weakened trees. The temperature never got nearly cold enough to kill any of the trees in Konoha, but their growth was temporarily hindered on a yearly basis.

In Training Ground 7, beneath two of several bordering trees lay Naruto and Hinata; side by side, but a friendly distance away from each other; taking in quickened breaths to recover from their morning workout.

With one large inhalation, Naruto calmed his body down enough to begin speaking "So Hinata-chan, today's the last day of our break... we'll take the graduation exam tomorrow..."

Hinata turned her head to him, and inquired, slightly confused, in between slightly calmer breaths "N-Naruto-kun, are you still worried about not graduating? You mastered the Bunshin and your chakra control has improved by leaps and bounds in the past few months..."

He turned to her, shaking his head with a slightly nervous chuckle "N-No, it's not that... I'm worried that we won't be on the same team. We work so well together!"

"I a-agree Naruto-kun," Hinata replied, sporting a gentle blush. Inwardly, Hinata was even more saddened by this than Naruto, she had gotten lost in time, and forgotten that this closeness she had with her... crush... was only temporary...

Sighing heavily, Naruto reasoned "Well, at least we'll always be best friends! We can always hang out after missions and stuff, right?"

"R-Right, Naruto-kun..." Hinata replied in a far off voice, she did her best to force a smile; regretfully taking comfort in knowing Naruto was doing the same...

* * *

In a tree, several tens of meters away, sat a figure in the shadow of the canopy; observing the two young ninja. Covered from head to toe in a ragged gray cloak, with a straw hat over their head; casting a powerful shadow over whatever wasn't covered by the large object.

_'Uzumaki Naruto... Hyūga Hinata... hmm.'_

With a swift; almost baffling leap, they disappeared into the mass of trees, without a trace.


	5. Ishika Tatane

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 4 - Ishika Tatane**

**A/N: Greetings, readers. Once again I'm back with an update of TWE. Firstly I must apologize for the mini-hiatus, I was in the hospital for... well, it's a long story. Anyway, I'm back at home now and I've just finished up this chapter, so, yeah, I apologize. Now, I noticed that a lot of you felt that the last chapter was a 'filler', and while I can promise you it wasn't, I'm sorry it felt that way. I admit that the last chapter didn't exactly **_**reveal**_** the growth of the characters, it merely stated that it happened. You'll see it in due time; it wouldn't be revealing too much to say that Chapter 3-5 are technically a '3-part-build-up' to Chapter 6 and 7. For those of you who are dying to see some (more) action written into the story, this chapter has a decent amount and I can promise future chapters will be filled with it. Rest assured, even if you don't understand everything I'm doing now, it will (hopefully) be made clear in the future as the story progresses; some people can read into my writing better than others, it's not your fault and I'm sorry if I'm confusing you (once again) or if it seems like I'm stalling. Anyway, without further ado—please enjoy Chapter 4.**

**Annndd... Before I begin the chapter (I lied about the 'without further do'), there are two people I'd like to give a shoutout to, for different reasons.**

**Codaram: **He's an author that I greatly respect on this website, and he has been genuinely amicable in all of our exchanges. He was one of the first people that I told of this story—prior to its being written—and also the only person who I actually asked to look over the first draft of the first chapter. I can honestly say that his words of encouragement, perspective and opinions—which keep me upbeat and on my toes—are an invaluable resource and were the primary reason I was so confident upon releasing this story. So, thank you Codaram. Also, to the readers, (if you haven't) I urge you to check out Codaram's stories; even though I haven't personally read them all, I can attest to the fact that he is a brilliant writer and that at least his primary works are _more_ than worth the read.

**Crenshinibon74: **This shout-out is primarily out of respect for the efforts of this fellow fanfiction author. As a friend of mine, I sincerely appreciate his kind words and support for my story and I wish to merely extend the same courtesy to him; his story frankly doesn't get enough credit while it has an incredible amount of potential. I admittedly have done my best, recently, to help him with the flow of his story in every aspect in an effort to not only better his work but attract more readers. If you have a moment, please give his story a 'look-up' and a review and give him your honest opinions and support so he can improve for the better. I respect his effort and latent talent (as I've stated) and wish to see him succeed.

* * *

A faint breeze blew throughout the Uchiha Compound, carrying with it a chill indicative of the Winter Season. The barren compound echoed the wind's voice, the sound dulling as it bounced off and through the lifeless buildings.

The wind and it's fluctuating temperatures seemed unable to permeate one of these buildings, however, as it was kept at bay by the now dwindling heat of the sole body residing in the hollow grounds.

Against the far wall of the Uchiha Clan's primary sparring Dojo sat Uchiha Sasuke, resting in a slack position. Scant sunlight shown in through the ajar shutters of the building; trailing across the room it provided less than adequate light, reaching only as far as the angle of the wooden shutters would allow, spotting the shadowed floor with a dim light.

Sasuke sat out of reach of the kaleidoscopic light that patterned the floor. One knee was raised as support for his arm which he rested overtop of it while the other leg lay outstretched making contact with the now cold wooden surface of the dojo floor. Sasuke was slouched forward, a neutral expression on his face yet with his eyes glazed over, he seemed to observe the occasionally shifting patterns of light. One would think he was in a trance, but truthfully if they were to get close enough, they could hear his still mildly ragged breath—a result of his previous intense workout—still sounding at a relaxed periodic pace, and see a rapidly evaporating sheen of sweat coating his forhead.

Listening to his own breathing and ignoring all other sounds, he kept his eyes on the light—on the otherwise emptiness of the room.

_'Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will finally graduate from that academy and be able to push myself even further. Tomorrow I'll be that much closer to gaining the power I need. Putting myself up to fueling the hatred that I need. Tomorrow...' _Sasuke clenched his fist, letting it continue to hang at the wrist from his arm, still draped over his raised knee.

_'I will be that much closer to gaining the power I need to kill... you.' _The voice in his mind bit out each syllable. He savored the meaning of the words...

_"__**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**" __Flipping through the necessary handsigns, the technique was finished by Itachi bringing a single hand up to his mouth to taper the expelled chakra. With a powerful inhalation Itachi focused the chakra and expelled it as a magnificent comet of synthetic fire._

_The brilliant fireball overpowered the brightness of the day, as it surged forward it was all that could be seen for a moment, from such close range. Eventually, it dissipated into the air with the commanding release of the seal by Itachi._

_He stepped back, taking a few controlled infusions of oxygen to remaster his breathing, he held his eyes closed in focus._

_'Nī-san, Nī-san! That was incredible! You have to be the strongest in the whole village; I bet you're even stronger than the Hokage!" A young Sasuke cheered joyfully, jumping up and down as he approached his now settled brother._

_"Sasuke," Itachi started. "What do you think of... power?"_

_Sasuke stopped mid-hop, his voice caught midway in his throat. Taking a moment to gain orientation, he swallowed. "Umm... It means you're really strong and can beat everyone, you're the coolest and you demand respect from all of those under you."_

_With an internal sigh of disappointment, Itachi cautiously regarded his brother, still facing away from him "Alright. So how do you suppose Hokage-sama got where he is?"_

_Sasuke felt confident. "He was given the position by the other Hokage! He was supposedly the strongest ninja in the village, but it should have been an Uchiha—we have the most power."_

_Itachi turned his head slightly, looking down he continued neutrally "Regardless of how strong we—the Uchiha—may or may not be, Sasuke, Hokage-sama is the most powerful and deserving of the position of Hokage."_

_Halting Sasuke's imminent protest with a raised hand, he closed his eyes and continued with a sigh "There is more to power than pure strength. The Uchiha have been blessed with a magnificent gift, our Kekkei Genkai—The Sharingan... But that does not make us rightfully entitled to anything, nor does it place us on a pedastal above other people..." Opening one eye, Itachi lazily but purposefully revealed a single mature Sharingan "We all show strength in different ways, but the potential to become truly powerful lies in all of us."_

_Sasuke stared at his brother, with a mixture of confusion, bewilderment and wonder. He opened his mouth to speak, but when no words came out he resolved to lower his gaze, raising his hands he clenched them slightly before opening them to observe his open palms._

_'Can I become strong as well?'_

The light that had been warming the floor had slowly receeded during Sasuke's lapse of concentration, the shift alerting Sasuke to his incoherence.

_'Tch. Itachi, you didn't even believe what you told me that day... The truth came out later, didn't it? Real power... real power is brutally cold, and carefully lethal... Just like you.'_

In one move he pushed himself to his feet, rocking forward slightly from the sudden burst of momentum. He stumbled.

Bringing his hand up to partially cover one eye, in a vain effort to placate his aching head, he walked forward slowly, step after step. Upon reaching the door he stumbled once more, the aged wood creaking under his heavy step. He paused.

With a breath he raised his head slightly and moved his free hand to the door. With a push he met the resistance of the door in front of him, he could feel the splintered wood chafing at his calloused hand. Ignoring the minor discomfort, he leaned on the ball of his leading foot, putting just enough pressure to budge the sturdy obstruction. The sunlight poured in to the room, causing Sasuke to wince.

Upon adjusting to the new brightness, Sasuke stepped into the streets of the Uchiha Compound and proceeded to turn left and begin his walk. As he walked, he occaisionally looked left and right to notice the Uchiha crest engraved on nearly everything; a reiterant reminder.

_"Again, Sasuke!" shouted an impatient Uchiha Fugaku._

_Running through the hand-signs in a pressured flurry, Sasuke shouted out "__**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**__", completing the technique with the tempering seal raised to his mouth, he expelled the lit chakra._

_Sasuke could feel his cheeks burning from his inexperienced body's overuse of the technique._

_'I... I have to keep.. k-keep.. g-go-goin...' His one eyebrow, slack with exhaustion, failed to do it's job of capturing the sweat streaming down his forehead; is eyes stung from contact with the salty liquid._

_'K-Keep...' His breath was giving out, his diaphragm rapidly contracting, his head aching from the lack of oxygen and the increased levels of carbon dioxide being introduced to his system._

_'No...' Sasuke coughed out, gagged and in a desperate effort on his body's part to restore oxygen levels, sucked in air. He inhaled the ashy residue of the shorted technique._

_"Disappointing," Fugaku apathetically commented as his eyes squinted in disgust upon seeing the pitifully dissipating flame. Looking out over the large pond of water, Fugaku calmed himself with a breath and struck his cane against the wooden dock. "Again," he demanded._

_At this point Sasuke was already doubled over himself in a coughing fit, trying desperately to expel the carcinogen from his lungs. "F-Fat-," He tried to get out between hacking fits. "Father..." he continued between shallow inhales, "Father... I... c-can—"_

_Sasuke stopped speaking upon hearing a subtle click, click slowly growing softer as if moving further and further away from him. He shakily turned his head to see his father leaving, without another word._

_As if to casually end a conversation, Fugaku tossed over his shoulder "You're weak, unlike Itachi. I do not blame you for not having as much power as my son."_

_It echoed in his head again, and again: 'My son.'_

_Again. 'My son.'_

_Again. 'My son...'_

_A single tear found it's way down Sasuke's burning face._

* * *

In the bustling center of Konohagakure, atop the tallest building in site, stood a man looking out over the village. He stood unnoticed by shinobi and civilian alike, observing without really watching.

This man, wore a ragged grey cloak and hid his eyes with a down-turned straw hat.

This man was waiting.

A subtle _tack_ was heard by this man, signifying the end of his wait.

"Back already?" inquired the cloaked man, he barely turned his head to the left to indicate that he was diverting a portion of his attention to the new presence.

"Yeah," came a deep and gruff voice. "He wasn't exactly that hard to find. But, if I may, can I ask why you're stalking the last Uchiha? Aren't you being a little bit conspicuous?"

"Oh, I don't think so," he responded, letting the last word hang. "No one would suspect an old man... out to enjoy the after-noon sun~" He finished, sing-songing the end of his sentence.

"Psh. Typical..." the voice trailed off. "Remind me why you insist on keeping that ridiculous act up..."

"It's important for an actor to stay in character," he replied simply.

The voice came back with a hint of annoyance and skepticism: "Is that so...?"

The man turned his head slightly, so that the corner of his creased face was visible behind the cloth barrier of his cloak. He let the corner of his mouth twist itself into a light smile, to indicate affirmative response.

The voice merely sighed, and in a subsequent burst of smoke, the owner of the voice had departed.

Tipping his hat eagerly, the man raised on leg so he could position his foot against the railing. With a mighty leap he sent himself soaring into the air—unnoticed by the villagers below—to land on the adjacent roof. He then proceeded to hop from roof to roof, in the direction of the Uchiha Compound.

* * *

During his aimless walking, Sasuke eventually happened upon the critically impactful location of his memory, the gathering pond. Upon spotting it Sasuke stopped, he carefully eyed it at first, as if to decided whether or not it was a good decision to proceed. In the end, the desire to proceed won out.

As he walked toward the opening in the cluster of foliage that led into the pond-grounds, his thoughts drifted back to graduation.

_'I have to fight that moron again, for some reason fate deemed me the one to put him _ou_t of his miserable hopes of graduating... What makes him think he's so strong... that he can surpass the b_ou_ndaries that have been placed for him...'_

He grimaced in disgust. _'What makes him so fucking special?! Even in pitiful defeat he's still there, he's always there...'_

Progressing into the enclosure of the bamboo canopy he unwittingly quickened his pace... A thought recurred in his mind _'We all show strength in different ways... but the potential to become truly powerful lies in all of us'_... He dismissed the thought with a low growl of displeasure.

"No... _This_ is _true_ power... something **he** doesn't have!" Sasuke shouted, flashing through the hand-signs he had long since committed to instinctual memory.

With a massive intake of air—the infused chakra visible in the rushed gathering—he inflated his chest. Bringing both hands into position he powerfully intoned, "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**" in conjunction with rapidly exhaling the gathered energy to produce a gargantuan sphere of fire, lighting the water below.

In odd contrast to the low roar of the continuously burning flame and the faint sizzle of the rapidly vaporizing water, a dull _crunch_ emanating from behind him, in the brush, caught Sasuke's attention. In flawless transition, he lowered his upheld hand to his kunai holster and flung the obtained kunai directly behind him so as to pierce whatever remained in the location of the sounds origin. It landed with a muffled _thud_.

Letting the flame in front of him dissipate, the heat rising up to disperse the energy, Sasuke deftly turned to face his visitor.

"Who are you?" Sasuke carefully modulated his voice, observing the cloaked figure now in his line of sight who'd apparently been stopped 1-inch short by the hurled kunai.

For a moment, the man didn't reply; he merely looked down upon the kunai stuck in the ground at his feet.

"Well?" Sasuke prompted, still tempering himself.

Bringing his hand up, in a fist, the man muffled a weak cough. Taking a second to clear his throat, he began, "That was quite a powerful technique, for someone so young..."

"I remember... back when I was a boy; people were hard-pressed to display such p—"

"I said... Who are you?!" Sasuke demanded, cutting the impromptu praise short. "And what are you doing here, on Uchiha Clan property?!" he followed up vigorously.

The man seemed to shift a little, possibly repositioning himself in mild surprise. "Hmm..." he started. The man shifted his head around, as if to observe the scenery; "I wasn't aware that an extinct clan could claim rights to property," he commented between light coughs.

The intensity of Sasuke's mood grew in an instant, clearly in outrage at the man's ignorance "The Uchiha aren't extinct! I am the last of the Uchiha."

The man paused for a moment before continuing; "I heard that the last Uchiha slaughtered his clan... they were too _weak_ according to him... power is a tragic thing, isn't it young man?"

Sasuke's eyebrow shot up in confusion and irritation, _'Is this guy insane?'_ he thought. Dismissing the thought in an effort to focus on the matter at hand, he continued, "Tch. Power is necessary. Without power, you are weak, and those with more power will inevitably seek to snuff, you, out." He spoke the final three words slowly.

"Interesting..." the man commented. "Well, to answer your earlier question, my name, young man, is Tatane Ishika," the man said, bringing his hands to his sides to give a chaste formal bow; he carefully kept his eyes leveled with the young Uchiha as he bent at the waist.

"So, why are you here..." Sasuke responded callously, clearly not interested in conversation.

The man let out a hearty laugh, his cloak shaking slightly from the reverberating sound. "Oh... merely observing _things of interest_."

"May I ask why it is that _y_ou are here, Uchiha-san," he spoke carefully, as he watched the young boy.

Sasuke spoke tersely: "Hn, no." He paused, beginning to turn to face the other way, "But I suggest that you leave."

The wind gusted through, rustling the bamboo plants and sending some of the looser leaves cascading down between their divide. The silence was less than comfortable.

Off-handedly the man replied, suggestion evident in his tone: "Hmm... That's unfortunate, I was hoping that I could get in a little bit of exercise before I made the dull journey home..." Smiling to himself, he began to exaggeratedly stretch.

Sasuke's gaze shifted into a steady glare "If you're implying that I should spar with you, you're out of your league, old man. Lea—"

Ishika coughed, deliberately, to interrupt Sasuke. He continued, carefully modulating his tone once again: "Someone as _powerful_ as the last great Uchiha, as you've claimed the title of... wouldn't mind humoring an old man, would they?"

Sasuke regarded Ishika with a piercing glare, unrelenting.

Ishika gave the final push, heavily emphasizing the last word: "I would be, _honored..._"

Sasuke titled slightly on his supporting foot, altering his positioning to reface Ishika completely, he began to speak with a smug grin, "I warned you, don't complain if I hospitalize you... I'm not in the best of moods."

Ishika shifted his feet slightly, settling into a casual stance he raised his arms up. Behind his cloak, his lips upturned in an unseen smile.

Sasuke launched forward with a substantial kick-off, bringing his legs up underneath himself as he soared toward Ishika at several feet off the ground. Once in range, Sasuke jutted his right leg out in a thrusting push, only for Ishika to swiftly move his left hand into position to catch the sandaled foot.

Spinning off of his falling momentum, Sasuke pivoted his hips left to bring his upper body up; giving his right side more velocity to fuel the swing at Ishika's unguarded head. Foreseeing this, Ishika moved his right hand slightly to easily catch the smaller hand in a vice grip, he still remained unmoving, planted in his spot.

Sasuke refused to give up his assault... He refused to believe that some random passerby was anticipating _his_ movements. Vigorously altering his current direction of trajectory, he pulled his entire body in the opposite direction in an effort to dislodge his 'pseudo'-opponent's stance and simultaneously brought his free leg up in a arcing impromptu-roundhouse kick to Ishika's temple. Once again, much to Sasuke's shock, Ishika anticipated this and merely shifted his shoulder so his already occupied right arm would deflect the leg.

Ishika, seeing that Sasuke was in such a vulnerable position (and practically being held by him), saw it as the perfect time to... move. In an impressive show of strength and with a rapid shift, Ishika ever-so-slightly widened his stance and bringing his shoulders up buffered himself, with a steady breath he spun Sasuke to the left, like a pinwheel.

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, then in agony when Ishika brought his unoccupied right knee up, burying it in Sasuke's solar plexus. He proceeded to bring one hand in a cuffed form to Sasuke's collar bone, and with the already present momentum, easily propelled the Uchiha several feet through the air, to come down in a pained heap near the beginning of the dock.

Ishika plainly regarded the curled up person before him _'He's really not as good as I would have expected... I'm actually a little bit disappointed... While that taijutsu was beyond anything someone in the academy should know... he's terrible at executing it.'_

"Say... that was an impressive display of Taijutsu young man...; What are they teaching children in the academy these days...?" Ishika inquired passively.

Between raspy gasps for air, Sasuke shakily raised his head to look at the man _'W-What in the hell was that? He... He saw through every move I made... Who the hell is he?!'_

"Who... Who are... you?!" Sasuke weakly shouted, still trying to regain his breath. He staggered to his feet.

Sasuke grabbed at his kunai holster once again, determined to continue the attack. He would _not_ lose. Finding a kunai, he pulled it out in a spin, catching it by the handle he raised the arm that held it and charged forward; zigzagging to add randomness to his attack pattern.

Ishika boredly observed Sasuke's display, shifting one leg back slightly to brace himself for the back-pedal he noted he'd inevitably have to make. _'He's still coming... After watching him for a while I think it's safe to assume that he has a rather daunting contradictory inferiority/superiority complex in addition to his already unhealthy level of... confusion.'_

Ishika carefully watched Sasuke's eyes, they were scared with fury.

"You wanted to spar? Well I'm not done yet!" Sasuke declared, continuing his advance.

_'What it must do to your mind... to swear you'll be successful... but tell yourself with every fiber of your being that you never will be... If he had a catalyst... this could get progressively more dangerous.'_ Ishika thought, raising one hand, half opened, ahead of his person.

Upon nearing his target, Sasuke began to wildly—but with calculated precision—swing the armed kunai in front of himself. Ishika began to back-pedal, taking slow steps as he looked down on the fast-moving metal blade, careful not to get too close.

Deciding he'd been herded far enough, Ishika simply pivoted the wide slash in the opposite of the resting angle and brought his opposite hand down on Sasuke's very open wrist with a dull _crack_. Sasuke faulted, wincing at the extreme pain of (potentially) having his bone chipped and looked on as his hand released the weapon against his will.

Sasuke stumbled forward slightly, but maintained the wherewithal to bend his neck to the left to avoid another lazy downward-aimed strike by Ishika at the back of his neck. Recovering quickly, he allowed himself to fall forward enough where his hand—with his proportionally greater momentum—was able to catch up to the descending kunai. Clasping it around the handle he rotated at the hip and ankle to the left, rolling over; he held the kunai in a backwards hold in front of his face, as he kept his eyes on Ishika's feet from his low crouch.

Ishika, attempting to avoid re-engaging the previous farce made a casual leap backwards, landing smoothly a few feet away.

Sasuke, however, was absolutely resolved to _not_ let the fight end in such a way. Sasuke pushed himself forwards, leaning on his supporting hand he brought his legs over himself from the back as he jumped in combination with slashing forward with the kunai. His limbs falling in quick succession, each with added force posed no threat to the onlooking Ishika, who merely decided to step back, giving himself enough room to finish Sasuke's landing with a swift push of a kick to the back.

With feeling the force of the kick, Sasuke stumbled forward forcefully upon landing upright—to be facing in the opposite direction. With a growl, Sasuke opted to shift the kunai and forsake the law; he brought his hands forth in an attempt to form hand-signs for his signature technique.

Ishika acted fast, for the first time, in a rush he dashed behind Sasuke and caught his hand from behind, squeezing it in a powerful grip. "Uchiha-san, I'm sure I couldn't handle any _jutsu_... you wouldn't be trying to hurt me... would you?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke simply replied in exclamation. He brought his free hand back for a back handed strike to Ishika's ribs, unfortunately, this was also foreseen.

Ishika deftly moved his other arm under Sasuke's blow and secured the offending arm in a hold, pulling him back firmly against himself. Deciding on a way out of the spar, Ishika positioned his leg in between Sasuke's two openly stanced legs and repositioned himself at an angle sideways to his captured opponent. With a heave, he shifted the new weight to his core and flipped the Uchiha entirely over himself, serving to send him flying, only to land several meters away.

Sasuke lounded with a strong _thud_, his kunai landing with a nearly inaudible ring and clutter as it struck a wayward stone.

"Uchiha-san, I appreciate the spar, but I've seen enough. Thank you," Ishika stated apathetically.

Ishika began to turn to leave, but midway, he paused to speak "Power is truly a tragic thing, but, we all are endowed with the potential to achieve it. It's an inalienable factor of human existence. Although what you do to gain it is important, _what_ you do with it is what is truly important... if you make the right choice in the end..."

Sasuke had been lamenting. Staring emptily at the ground in hopes of some sort of answer... How could he have lost? What had happened? Was he really right...?

In the last moments of his thought-cycle, though, Ishika's words had interrupted. No, they had not simply interrupted, they had _impacted_...

_The night was dark and there was a red tint to the sky and it's lingering clouds... It was dark, very dark... in the aphotic presence of the night there were two distinctive tints of red... They were piercing, they were wet... blood? No... It couldn't have been... They were patterned, two glowing... imposing orbs... watching... me._

_"Why... Why did y_ou_ do it..." I managed in between sobs of anguish._

_"To test my own ability... to test my power."_

Sasuke raised his head slightly, his eyes were still closed at the pain of thought.

_'To... test...'_

_'What I do with it? _What. I. Do. With. It...?_' _He thought very slowly... very dazedly.

_**'What I do with it?!'**_ The phantom image of the eyes recurred in his mind, sending a shockwave of pain throughout his body; only to ultimately concentrate in his eyes.

Sasuke brought a hand to his head again, to satiate the ache... _'What the hell does he know?!'_

_'What the hell do _any_ of them know?!'_ The eyes flashed through his mind again... but they were... his eyes.

Ishika took a stunned pause at the brief spike in chakra. Turning back around, slightly, he opened his eyes further in shock at seeing an enraged Uchiha, turning back towards him, with _open_ eyes. _'Shit. He's activated it, he'll be able to see through this henge easily.' _Thinking quickly, Ishika brought his hand in a half-ram seal in front of his body, performing the Shunshin to transport himself a safe distance away from the coming _storm_.

Sasuke turned all at once to set his newfound vision upon... nothing. In a fit of rage, Sasuke screamed out, his Sharingan—which held one tomoe in the left eye and two in the right—flared and he jumped up, ready to fight with the mere idea.

"COME ON!" Sasuke shouted. He looked around frantically, refusing to believe that the mysterious old man had simply vanished. "This isn't over! I can fight you!"

From his position high up in a nearby tree, Ishika observed the outburst, his now one visible eye steadily, but with pity, observing the unfortunate Uchiha.

"COME. ON!" Sasuke exclaimed once again, falling down to the ground, he pounded a hand—hard—into the tough, aged soil. "AHH!"

Standing, without a word, Ishika brought his lone hand-sign up once more, and with a slight bit of focus, performed the Shunshin once more, vanishing in an unnoticed swirl of leaves and wind.

* * *

In the uppermost operating-floor of the Hokage Tower, in addition to a great deal of other hallways, corridors, storage facilities and offices, sat the iconic Hokage's office. In this office, at his desk, sat the regarded Sandaime-Hokage; Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Taking a drawn out 'taste' of his pipe-smoke, Hiruzen let out the cloud of smog in a peaceful breath, and looked back down to his work, in vain hopes of continuing. With a sigh, he considered calling it quits for the day... and going home to rest his tired old bones... he laughed at the idea; the village would have his head.

It was then that a gentle knock at the door disrupted his musings. Before he could respond to the unspoken request for entry though, the requester took his momentary silence as affirmative response and proceeded to let themself in.

Hiruzen calmly eyed the spectacle entering his office, he looked quite silly with a ragged gray cloak covering his entire body, mis-matched sandals, one sleeve reaching further than the other and a tousled and titled straw hat which looked worse for wear.

Ishika began "So... nice weather we're having, is it not, Hokage-sama?"

The sentiment hung in the air, but it was merely returned with a curiously furrowed brow as reciprocation.

Ishika awkwardly continued "I see you're getting your work done, efficiently."

Hiruzen forced a cough to suppress the imminently rising chuckle in his throat and decided to change the direction of the rapidly dying conversation "Why is it that you insist on wearing that ridiculous..." He coughed again, suppressing another chuckle "_disguise_, even after the fact?"

"Oh, well, you see... I've actually grown quite fond of it!" Ishika chirped, waiting for an equally upbeat reply; all he got, though, was an increasingly furrowed brow.

"...But, if you insist..." Bringing both hands in front of himself to form a ram seal, Ishika muttered under his breath _'__**henge**__'_, releasing the powerful henge he had, had over himself.

Upon the brilliant cloud of smoke clearing, from the full-body transformation, a relatively tall man with all but his left eye covered, gravity-defying silver hair and a lazy gaze settled upon the open, orange hand-book resting in his sole poised hand was revealed.

Finally giving in to his better nature, Hiruzen let a small smile tug at the ends of his lips "It _is_ always a pleasure, Kakashi."

Kakashi, looking up, merely creases his one visible eye into a happy indicator of a smile. "Likewise, Hokage-sama."

Deciding it was time to get serious, Hiruzen addressed his subject of curiosity "So, Kakashi, I've permitted you free range and time off to do some research... I'm sincerely hoping that your idea of research differs from my student's..."

With a small chuckle, Kakashi replied, "Oh, of course, Hokage-sama. And yes, I've completed it. I believe the results to be satisfactory."

Hiruzen widened a single eye in mild confusion. "Well, Kakashi? What is it exactly that you needed? It's unusual for a Jōnin of your standing to ask for time off; I could have used you for some critical missions..."

Kakashi closed his book with a soft _thump_ and pocketed it. He leveled his gaze and spoke formally "Indeed. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I would like to request a position change..."

"You're resigning?" he asked, surprised.

"No, I would actually like to take on a Genin Squad."

"Would I be able to ask why, Kakashi? You've been solicited for the position in the past, and each time and every time you've either declined or failed the students, without much more than a one sentence report..." Hiruzen inquired.

Kakashi continued with a sigh, "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I can't clearly divulge my reasons... not all of them. Although, I'm sure your aware that I've had difficulties in the past. There is a reason why I requested time off to conduct research. I was observing three specific academy students... and for all different; yet similar... reasons... I believe that I would best be able to handle them as a teacher and help them to become elite ninja in their own right."

"Oh...?" Hiruzen began, "And who might those students be, Kakashi?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Hyūga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke," he levelly stated.


	6. Nine to Watch

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 5 - Nine to Watch**

**A/N: Hmm... What do I say...? Well, I suppose I'll start by addressing things that showed up multiple times in the reviews; which by the way, I must thank you guys for. Although the traffic to this story seems to be suffering, the review count is quite impressive, I appreciate the consistent feedback sincerely. Now, first of all, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the fight scene! That was my first **_**actual**_** fight scene, although I have touched on and critiqued action scenes before, so I'm glad it came out as well as you guys said it did... Secondly, I really got you guys with that whole Ishika persona, huh? I tried to put some subtle hints in, if you guys hadn't guessed by now, the 'voice' he spoke with on the roof was, in fact, Pakkun. And as far as Kakashi's role, yes, I do want him to have a little bit more of an active role in helping our favorite characters, but don't expect anything too much, a Sensei is supposed to be slightly detached, and he has his reasons—as they all will. **

**Now, I know that I don't make a habit of doing this, but when things need to be responded to, you can expect clear replies in the following edition (or should I say, chapter?)... So here we go:**

**SoulfulGinger17: **I always enjoy your little comments. And as for Sasuke, as SlicerNDicer8 mentioned, that is one of the big mysteries, so you'll just have to wait and see. Also, thank you for the compliment, being a 'good writer' is a goal of mine.

**Codaram:** I see your point with the adjectives, I'll do my best to adjust that. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I appreciate the compliment on my descriptive abilities; I try to really take my time with scenes.

**jascat: **When I said that, I didn't exactly mean to give me a list of things you like and don't like... I meant those things in regards to what had been written, however, I thank you for making me aware of that and, with that, I can promise that none of your listed dislikes will ever become a part of this story... luck of the draw!

**SlicerNDicer8: **I've PM'd you.

**adamrpg: **I wasn't sure how to reply to this at first, I can admit that I felt a mix of emotions upon my first read-over... But now that I've had time to think, I think I've come to a reasonable response: Thank you, first and foremost. Secondly, I believe you're viewing the whole tear-situation too narrowly, but in general you would have a point. Thirdly, I do intend to continue to write this as a very deep story, and further expand it as I go, however, there is no such requirement for an 'epic'; besides, dimension, for the most part, is in the eye of the beholder. Fourthly, I can happily inform you that there will be detailed political dealings in the future, but at this point in time that is primarily irrelevant to the story. Fifthly, in regards to Sarutobi... while I agree that he is an upstanding Shinobi, he is a plot device more than anything, I'm sure it won't really come off as a spoiler to anyone if I were to tell you that he was placed in the story for the purpose of dying an impactful and inciting death, and I intend to use him the same way; it's nothing personal towards any fans of him, just my story's direction. In regards to Gai, I can say that aside from what you said about his relationship with Lee, most of your opinions or facts aren't accurate in any way, especially in regards to Neji. Neji did that entirely on his own. And while I agree that Gai has a lot of potential, and I can promise you that in the distant (with the vast intended length of this story) future, he will be utilized—he simply isn't someone I intend to make a main character. Lastly... I still, to this moment, have no idea what to make of this—it's what I can only assume to be your imagination run wild (don't take offense to that)—but it is by no means part of my story, nor will it be; while I appreciate the thought, it's something that I've clearly stated several times in the past that I dislike, a major skewing of the plot and story concept. Now, I know that they're just examples, but they really don't do the assumed good nature of your intent justice, simply put (This is referring to your fourth and fifth paragraphs)... And, even with all of that said, I'm still skipping over a lot, but if I were to go on I think the author's note would grow longer than the actual chapter, so I'll stop with this said: Now, I'm not sure if this post was sarcastic or genuine, but either way, I appreciate the review, know that your input hasn't been merely deflected, it just doesn't fit at all. If that ruins the story for you, I apologize.

**arhi: **Hmm... what an... interesting review. I guess I'll just go through this in list format, for the sake of mental organization.

1. Your comment about this story being such a daunting task—might I say—is purely subjective, I don't view it as work at all. Thanks for the consideration, though.

2. I don't think the benefit would make up for, or account for the loss, in regards to getting a beta-reader for this story. It's not for you, nor anyone else to judge how much I do or don't care about my writing; I can promise you that nothing I write will be _rife_ with errors of any persuasion.

3. To say that I'm _struggling_ would be... inaccurate, to say the least. At least, that is, regarding grammar. What I am struggling with (to hit two birds with one stone...) is actually dedicating time to thoroughly edit my own work. I'm a beta-reader myself, and sadly, I don't put the time and focus that I'd like to into editing my chapters in 'post'. You were correct when you pointed out my _sloppiness_ with semicolons and that assortment of typos; I can assure you, though, that I know the basic function of my first language's punctuation. So, with that said, you've told me to put my back in to it, well, give me the pen... because I'm back into it.

4. Continuity. That was not a 'glaring error' that you spotted, in fact, it wasn't an error at all—It was a logical progression. Once someone learns a lesson, they typically correct their errant behavior, no? This was a simple misunderstanding on your part, I apologize if it wasn't made clear enough. Note: This more or less voids the following paragraph, so, let's move on.

5. I'm going to lump my response to your entire 'touching upon' of my grasp of characters. To be perfectly honest, I found this insulting—regardless of your intention. Your _individual_—might I emphasize—failure to understand what was written is to no fault of mine; initially I was going to respond to each paragraph with another list, detailing each misunderstanding, however, now, I believe it's simply not worth the effort. If you're interested, you can read it carefully and hopefully pay the material closer attention, if not, you're only damaging your own understanding and prospective enjoyment of the story and its future editions.

6. Responding to your address of 'canonical' divergence: As of yet, there has been none in terms of characterization, except whatever minimal confidence increase you may or may not see in Hinata (after the brief time-skip).

7. I'm going to simply ignore the bloated comment about my Cover Page... On to more important matters. 'Number 6' on the Cover Page—_Questions_ Section was genuinely superfluous information, hence it's inclusion on the mere _Cover Page_. If it were truly valuable information it would have been worked into the story. In all truth, I initially intended to mention it via the passing dialogue of a character in a future arc, but, seeing as people were all wondering about it, I included it as a side note.

8. "Your premise looks like it could be good, and your writing shows promise. I think that with a little polishing and a consistent second opinion, this could be the epic you'd like for it to be."—To quote you, ahri. Thank you, but I don't intend to take your advice on the 'consistent second opinion'. Always, though, it's a perpetual process of improvement.

9. I can't say that someone beta'd this response for me, but it's definitely a lot less harsh than the emotions an initial, cursory glance of some of your more ignorant comments invoked.

***Great Exhale* Now, with all of that taken care of, on with Chapter 5.**

* * *

As the daylight began to wane, the hardworking creatures of the light began to wind down and retreat to their sanctuaries; while some were disappointed by the coming of the day's imminent conclusion, others welcomed the more temperate atmosphere. One person, in particular, readily enjoyed the cooling air and increased definition of the clouds, in contrast to the receding light.

Upon a cliff, just outside the boundaries of Konoha, lay that one person. Against a oddly accommodating stone formation lay Nara Shikamaru, with his arms crossed behind himself, his hands overlapped each other to form a makeshift 'cushion' for his head.

He breathed deeply, letting the air calm him. _'Man... the sunset really works miracles for those clouds.'_ Lazily blinking, Shikamaru pondered his current situation. _'We're supposed to graduate... but they essentially gave us a week to decide if we really want to. '_—his expression shifted to a confused grimace—_'Wouldn't anyone unprepared for the life of a ninja have dropped out of the academy before now? Are they suggesting that we _aren't_ prepared? Are they suggesting that _they_ didn't prepare us?'_

Shikamaru shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought. He heaved a sigh. _'I knew I should have told my father I wanted to work in the labs.' _Deepening his grimace into a pained frown he lamented further. _'I should have known... I shouldn't have deluded myself into believing that something like being a 'normal ninja' was a viable option...' _With another sigh, he concluded _'It's all so troublesome...' _Closing his eyes, once again, he attempted to escape into sleep, wanting to enjoy his last day of 'freedom'.

From a position further up the cliff, two men stood, observing the lax Nara.

"Your son has an awfully... interesting training routine, Shikaku-san," Sarutobi Asuma commented, raising an eyebrow as he observed his counterpart's son.

Slightly out of the way, beneath the cover of the trees, Shikaku let out a chuckle; leaning back against the adjacent tree he mentioned, with a grin "Oh? I find it extremely efficient."

Asuma reached into his jacket pocket for his pocket-lighter with one hand as he fished through his pockets for a stray cigarette. Once he located the subject of his search he slowly raised it to his mouth, lighting it as it passed, a skill acquired from years of practice. Taking a substantial drag and slipping the lighter back into its holster, Asuma countered "I'm sure you would..."

With a grin, Shikaku replied "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"W-Well "—faulting slightly, he raised his hand in a fist to his mouth; he cleared his throat through a cough—"Your son is _obviously_ a brilliant kid... but he just doesn't seem to have any motivation," he stated. In hopes of being as clear as possible, he added with a sigh "And of course, since they're so close, Chōza-san's son—Chōji—follows Shikamaru around almost religiously. I'd hoped to see them in action during this intercession, but so far they've both concluded that cloud-watching is the best way to prepare for the spars. Then... with Inoichi-san's daughter, I'm wondering if their team dynamic will be as... potent as your legendary reputations tell of your squad..."

Asuma turned his head, looking over his shoulder to the Nara Clan Head for reassurance.

Upon making eye contact with Asuma, Shikaku realized that he was probably expected to have been listening. Making a hasty attempt to show that he had been paying attention, he widened his eyes in fallacious interest and began to nod, mumbling "Mhm, mhm". _'Shit,'_ he thought to himself. _'What do I say?!'_ He awkwardly held the eye contact he'd established with Asuma, waiting for _some_ hint, _some_ sign, _some _ clue... When Asuma finally raised an eyebrow in befuddlement, Shikaku gave up and decided to just give a characteristic response. Lowering his head and his eyelids, seemingly in unison, Shikaku opted to merely shrug.

In exasperation, Asuma exaggeratingly dropped his head in defeat; his shoulders fell in turn as his entire body took on a faintly lost posture. Groaning, he turned his attention back to the younger Nara, choosing to resume polling a slightly-less-lost cause.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru!" Akimichi Chōji called, enunciating each syllable in an effort to draw out the call. Even though he struggled to pull himself up the cliff side, Chōji refused to set aside his bag of chips—they were, after all, his favorite flavor: Barbecue. With a huff, he forced the entirety of himself onto the level surface of the cliff's landing, chips still firmly in hand.

Shikamaru, shocked out of his near-sleep state, groggily opened a single eye to search for the incurring party; upon seeing his friend, however, his mood brightened; this was clearly evident as his mouth bent into a warm smile. "Oi, Chōji. I was wondering when you'd show up."

Chōji gave a happy grin of his own in response. "Of course, Shikamaru. I just had to eat something before I left; I was starving!"

Shikamaru raised the eyebrow of the still-lone open eye in disbelief. As he opened his mouth to speak, he realized who he was talking to... With another chaste glance, he shrugged his still angled arms and returned his gaze to the clouds, restoring sight to the other eye.

Chōji sat down next to his friend. Leaning back against one of the smoother rocks, he set down his bag of chips to withdraw another from inside of his shirt. "I brought snacks," Chōji mentioned, per the norm.

"Of course," Shikamaru commented with a gentle smirk.

With a pleased chuckle, Chōji passed the fresh bag to Shikamaru.

"Thanks," Shikamaru said, accepting the bag. Settling down into their respective positions, the two friends returned their sights to the somnolent clouds and enjoyed in the peaceful activity, set to the intermittent, muffled _crunch_ of chips being hungrily devoured.

On a higher plane of the cliff, walking out of the bordering forest, was Akimichi Chōza. As he approached, he greeted Shikaku with a slap on the back, waking up the dozing Jōnin "Hello Shikaku!" Heartily laughing at his friend falling forward in shock, he passively enlarged his arm; without a thought, he scooped up his fallen friend and set him in an upright position. "What are you up to on this fine afternoon!" He grinned.

Shikaku simply groaned in reply as he rubbed his aching back; even to this day, the Akimichi Clan Head's strength never ceased to amaze him.

Chōza, not really expecting an intelligible reply, continued on to greet Asuma.

Asuma had been observing the two men interacting over his shoulder. With another sideways glance downward, towards the two children resting on a lower part of the cliff, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the similarity. _'Interesting...'_

Seeing Chōza approaching him, Asuma turned to face the large Jōnin. "Hey! Chōza-san, what a pleasant surprise; I didn't expect you to show up," Asuma loosely commented, mildly surprised.

"Oh, well, Shikaku actually invited me... However, "—he spared a glance toward the still griping Shikaku—" he didn't say what exactly he was inviting me to. What's going on here?" Chōza inquired, stepping closer to the edge of the cliff to gaze over the side. "I-Is that Chōji... and Shikamaru?" He sputtered in confusion.

Shikaku began to laugh; he gripped his sides in mild pain at the intensity of the laughter. Between lingering giggles he managed "We're... spying on... our sons..." He burst into laughter again. "Apparently, this is Asuma's idea of a fun afternoon!"

Asuma turned to Shikaku with a glare. "Don't make me out as a pedophile, Shikaku!" He exclaimed, dropping the usual title.

Shikaku attempted to ease the situation. With a smirk, he spoke "Now, now, Asuma. I didn't say that..."

"What else would a grown man, watching someone else's children's every move be!" Asuma shot back in disbelief.

Shikaku merely raised an eyebrow, suppressing his grin in an effort to feign innocence. "You said it yourself." Lowering the opposite eyebrow, he continued. "I suppose that's why we're here. To make sure you don't try anything..." Looking over to Chōza he sought to drive the point home. "Does that sound reasonable, Chōza? We're here to make sure our son's prospective teacher doesn't molest them while they're not under the protection of the academy."

Chōza, understanding Shikaku's angle, merely smiled. With a nod, he proceeded to spur the exchange even further. "Indeed, that's quite reasonable, Shikaku. But... what will become of our children under the care of this man... after the academy?"

Shikaku's signature smirk returned with a vengeance. Tilting his head, he scoffed "Well... after that, they'd be adults. It's out. Of. Our. Hands..."

Exchanging a look, Shikaku's and Chōza's face began to sprout powerful grins, respectively, before they both burst into raucous laughter; each of them enjoyed in slapping their hands against their respective thighs, trying to contain the laughter they were enjoying at Asuma's expense.

Groaning in humbled defeat, Asuma turned away from the two Clan Heads and spun himself down into a cross legged position; he proceeded to fold his arms, effectively entering the stance most conducive to sulking. Subsequently, he proceeded to do just that; this action, however, only encouraged his tormentors.

Hearing a strained grunt emanating from just over the side of the cliff caught the attention of the laughing pair. Turning toward the sound of the noise, they were somewhat surprised to see two sets of fingers gripping the edge.

With a heave, Yamanaka Inoichi pulled up, then proceeded to raise his legs back up over himself. In one movement he forced himself up and let go of the ledge, front-flipping onto the landing. "Phew..." He exhaled. When he caught his friends eyeing him curiously, he raised his hand behind his head, scratching it in embarrassment. With a weak laugh, he attempted to excuse himself. "Heh... I'm getting too old to be doing stuff like this."

Inoichi, noting that Shikaku and Chōza were still watching him, walked over to Asuma. Placing his hand on the Sarutobi's shoulder, he laughingly chided "And you, Asuma, are too old to be interested in our children!"

This comment caused the—thought to be—calmed Shikaku and Chōza to re-erupt in choked peals of laughter.

After a couple drawn out minutes of laughing, Shikaku broke the trend. Taking one hand to wipe a stray tear from the corner of his eye, he questioned "Say, Inoichi... I thought you wouldn't be able to make it."

Turning to face the Nara, Inoichi brought a hand up to his chin in a gesture of thought. "Hmm... Well, you see what it was, was that the wife had asked me to watch the store today. You see, usually there's a huge increase in orders right around Graduation Day. But, Ino was so generous today! I guess being a ninja really is making her responsible, I never knew she'd be so complaisant, I didn't even have to ask; she just walked up to me and offered to watch the store for the rest of the day! She's usually so bratty and obsessed with that Uchiha boy... I wonder what it was that changed..." Inoichi went on and on, grandiously gesturing to 'broaden' the reach of the story.

By this time, Shikaku and Chōza had lost interest in the explanation, having already extrapolated the necessary information. Having turned to face each other, they were deep in a completely separate conversation—entirely oblivious to the ongoing theatrics.

Looking over his shoulder, Asuma observed the interaction unfolding before him. _'Hmm...'_

A shrill call of "Shikamaruuu! Chouujiii!" shocked everyone present—Shikamaru and Chōji included—out of their respective stupors. Surprised, the three clan heads ran to the edge of the cliff, stopping to look over the side from behind the still seated Asuma.

Squinting and raising a stiffened hand over his eyes, Chōza tried to clearly make out the figures several strides down the massive cliff side. "Isn't that... Ino?"

Blinking several times in attempt to confirm the sight before his eyes, Inoichi let out a groan of frustration. "Urgh! I knew it! It's always something with that girl!" Inoichi began to pace back and forth, his fingers tightly pinching the bridge of his nose.

With arms folded, Shikaku looked on. Closing his eyes for a moment, he gathered his thoughts.

"Inoichi... are you sure about Ino's commitment to being a ninja?"

Inoichi paused. "What do you mean, Shikaku?"

"She doesn't seem to be the most responsible... I know you're training her to be the head of the clan, but are you sure she's interested in that?"

"Of course!" Inoichi shot back. "What would make you say something like that! You've seen her affinity for my clan's techniques, and she was the head of her kunoichi class for the longest time!"

"But _now_, Inoichi?" Shikaku sighed. Bringing his hand up, he stroked his beard to a point. "She hasn't shown any such interest for the last _three years_. It's no good for her to go into something she isn't ready for, or, even worse, to go into something that she doesn't truly want to do..."

"Interest?! Who are you to be talking about motivation, Shikaku! Just look at your son! He's practically failing his written exams at the academy!" Inoichi retorted.

With a heavy breath, Shikaku disassembled the argument, "I was the same way, Inoichi. That stuff isn't important; regardless of what he's said, it's clear he has a vested interest in the life of a ninja. I wish he'd show more motivation sometimes, but that's up to him—he wouldn't endanger his squad."

"What!" Inoichi shouted. "Y-You... Argh!" Inoichi roughly ran a hand through his hair, in a futile attempt to stimulate his mind.

"Troublesome..." Shikaku mumbled.

Sensing that the situation could only escalate at this point, Chōza stepped in between his two teammates. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he reasoned, "All of our children are competent... Inoichi, Shikaku. But as for how they'd work as a squad... why don't we ask their teacher." With that, all three of them turned to face the now stolid Asuma.

Asuma sat with his hands rested on his knees and his posture nearly perfect. He held a hard gaze, observing the scarily familiar interaction of the ninja acolytes below him. Narrowing his eyes even further, he leaned forward in an attempt to absorb the scene before him.

"Asuma...?" Shikaku prompted, taking a step forward.

Blinking twice, Asuma turned his head back toward the trio, glancing over his shoulder.

"We've been out here for a couple hours now... what do you think?"

"Hmm..." Asuma began. As he opened his mouth to speak again, he looked back toward the younger trio once again; doing a double take, he finally concluded that the question would be best answered with... action.

Asuma stood up all at once, turning his head fully to his Jōnin counterparts he began to smile. Looking around for a moment, surveying the land for a viable means, he paused when his eyes locked on a sizable boulder. As he walked toward it, he ignored the puzzled stares that were being directed at his slowly distancing back.

Upon reaching the boulder, he looked up to see the top of it, surprised at how much larger it seemed up close. He whistled, impressed. Pressing a hand against the massive rock, he called over his shoulder "Let's see."

One would be amazed at how large the eyes of the three Clan Heads grew in such a small amount of time when they observed Asuma enacting his 'experiment'. Asuma, in one swift motion, positioned his foot in the cusp where the boulder's curve met with the flat ground; and, with a chakra infused slam, propelled the rock over the side of the cliff. He merely looked on expectantly as the boulder barrelled down with ever-increasing speed towards the trio.

"Chōji!" Chōza cried out in worry. Before he could spring into action to save his son, though, Asuma moved at top speed and thrusted his arm out. Regarding the Akimichi head with a sideways glance—still focused on the descending boulder—he implored him. "Chōza-san, please. Wait."

Folding his arms about his person, Chōza conceded, willing to put his trust in Asuma's methods, despite not understanding.

Inoichi, however, was not satisfied with Asuma's mere word. "Are you all crazy! My daughter's down there! _All_ of our _kids_ are down there!"

Chōza regarded Inoichi with sympathy, but remained silent.

Inoichi looked around wildly, hoping to discover that he was the victim of a sick joke. Awed by the dissettling looks he received from those around him he shook his head, appalled. Before Inoichi could brave the leap over the side of the cliff, however, he was halted in his tracks by Shikaku's words.

He spoke slowly, with conviction "Inoichi. What are we here for? We're here to see our kid's Sensei. We're here to see him assess our kids. We're here because we trust Sarutobi Asuma to train our children to become powerful, honorable shinobi. Why can't _you_ trust Ino?"

The words hung in the air, their meaning agonizingly palpable. The faint rumbling could be heard, it steadily added pressure to the already insurmountable weight on Inoichi's heart.

Inoichi merely stepped back in silent response, in acquiescence.

Asuma intently continued to shift his gaze between the rapidly advancing boulder and the kids, waiting.

* * *

A rumbling sound could be heard. They all heard it; it was growing closer... that much was clear. Where was it coming from, though?

Shikamaru raised an arm from it's limp position, casting his vision over it as if to examine it. After clearly establishing that it was not him, but it was in fact the ground, that was vibrating, he looked to his two friends to see if they'd noticed it as well.

While it was clear that his friend's weren't ignorant to the apparent seismic shifts, Shikamaru judged that it was safe to assume that they couldn't discern the origin, that is, until he was snapped out of his daze by a peircing shout from Ino.

Wincing, he stuck a pinky finger in his ear so as to achieve the relieving _pop_ which would restore his usual hearing capacity. "Geez, Ino... Could you be a little louder?"

She shrieked once again, this time however, she decided to add comprehensible words. "YES!" She exclaimed.

Shikamaru simply looked to Chōji for an explanation, still reluctant to reliquish his makeshift bed; after all, there was a chance that it could be something ridiculous.

When he turned to where Chōji had been seated, however, he found the spot empty. Swinging his gaze over he finally layed eyes on Chōji, who was now, standing right beside Ino, wearing an utterly shocked expression. Shikamaru had, had enough. Placing his hands down on the ground, he established a firm grip then proceeded to push himself to his feet. He turned as he backed up, to find himself standing next to Ino, opposite Chōji.

The steadily magnifying, rumbling sound could still be heard by Shikamaru as he angled his head to see up the slope of the cliff, what he found, stunned him. He blanched at the sight before him, a tremendous boulder was barrelling down at what could only be assumed to be _dangerous_ speeds; it was getting closer.

From atop the cliff, Asuma still watched, unwavering. "_What will you do...?_" he muttered under his breath. From behind him he could feel the tension building, at this point, he could only hope that he'd been right...

"What do we do!" Ino exclaimed.

"M-Maybe I could use my Baika technique... a-and..." Chōji stumbled through his idea, trying to formulate as he went along.

They both were at a loss.

Grunting in annoyance at his predicament, Shikamaru quickly looked around, taking in everything in an instant, he tried to devise a plan with the few seconds and limited information he had available. _'Crap... There's no time for this... I don't have time...! No...' _Shikamaru breathed deeply, and closing his eyes, he attempted to clear his mind and sensory periphery of distraction. _'I have to think... Ch__ō__ji can't use his Baika, we'd all be in danger... We can't duck under the ledge, there's no telling how heavy that boulder is—especially with it's momentum factored in... I can only assume it'd be several tons... Ino and my techniques are useless here; we'd just end up getting in the way and killing ourselves... There's no way we'd survive a jump off of this cliff...'_ Shikamaru opened his eyes. He'd run through over 100 scenarios, using each potential method of survival over 10 times and each scenario ended with one or more of them potentially dying.

With a pained sigh, Shikamaru looked upon his rumbling 'maker' once more. _'Heh... at least we wouldn't have to graduate... it'd be such a pain forming a ninja squad... squad...?' _The thought rang in his mind... then, it sank in. _'Squad!'_ He spared a hurried glance at his two **squad** mates. _'I hope there's enough time...'_ He shook his head, it didn't matter, there _had_ to be enough time!

Acting quickly, his eyes still on the approaching boulder, Shikamaru pushed as much chakra as he could managed into his legs and catapulted himself several meters backwards and through the air. Landing with a silenced _tack_ he quickly adjusted himself and brought both hands together in a unique capture seal—one hand smothering the other. _'__**Kage Mane no Jutsu**__' _he thought with a steady grimace. _'Reach!'_ He forcefully willed the shadow, pumping as much chakra as he could muster into it he stretched it to latch onto the scant shadows of his two friends.

All at once, the three young ninja felt the rigid shock of the connection. Shikamaru smirked, proud of the small success, despite the elephant in the room. _'Kage Mane, seik__ō.'_

Letting the moment pass, the Nara heir sprung into action; pulling his hands apart from the seal, he attempted something he'd only known to work in theory, he broke the shadow's immediate pull in two. _'I-It worked! Alright... we have a chance now... too bad this is nearly impossible to hold.' _He smiled through his strained wince.

_'Alright,'_ he thought. He reached into the imaginary holster that would be resting on his left hip, and from it, he mimed pulling an array of kunai which were (luckily) already wrapped with ready Bakuhatsu-fuda. With that prepared, he diverted his focus to the other pull of his technique; with a great deal of concentration, he brought his hands together to rapidly form the hand-signals used in field combat for 'On-My-Signal. _Tori_. Grab.'

Looking over to Chōji for confirmation, he was relieved to see Chōji—temporarily freed from the restraint of the Kage Mane—sign back 'O.K.'

Knowing that, that part of his plan was in capable hands, Shikamaru broke his two-way divided technique and shifted full control to Ino. Carefully raising up Ino's free hand, with the control of the mimicry technique, Shikamaru quickly signed 'Throw-At-Rock-When-Jump.'

Temporarily loosening the grip of his possession, Shikamaru awaited her response, anxiously. In a moment, he saw her sign 'What. !.' In exasperation, he reclaimed control and forced her hand to mimic the movements of his, once again. 'Just-Trust. Have-Plan. Will-Live.'

Looking upon Ino again, he rejoiced in seeing her finally nod in agreement. Bringing one hand up before himself in a half-ram seal, Shikamaru prepared himself, eyeing the now-upon-them boulder. _'3, 2, 1... Go!'_

On his own mental timer, he leapt backwards, into the air just beyond the extent of the cliff's ledge.

From a vantage point, Inoichi looked on in paranoid awe. "What is he doing! Is he trying to _jump_ to the bottom!"

Chōza merely looked on in anticipation, wondering what they'd planned.

Shikaku however, watched Asuma with a proud grin plastered on his face. _'By Kami, he was right. Let's see the extent of your plan, son...'_ He once again turned to observe the spontaneously enduring trio.

Asuma looked on in impressed shock, his eyes steadily widening. _'The kid's a fucking genius... It's not just him though, all of them...' _He looked to the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho trio... _'They'll surpass their predecessors with ease...'_

Back in the center of action, Chōji looked on in worried anticipation, hoping his signal would come in time for the subsequent action to make a difference.

Just as the boulder began to lift off of the over-laying ledge, Ino felt the hold on her physical person dissipate; correctly figuring that, that was her signal, she expertly flung the array of explosive-kunai that were splayed in her left hand.

Upon making contact, the motion of the boulder and the kunai, collectively, triggered the Bakuhatsu-fuda to light. Hearing the sizzle and feeling himself begin to fall, Shikamaru signaled the waiting Chōji. "Chōji! Now! Tuck and Roll!"

Hearing his signal Chōji burned through the set of hand-signs required for his family's signature technique, ending on the sign 'Tori'. He exclaimed "**Baika no Jutsu**" in conjunction to instantly ballooning to nearly 5x his original size, a fiercly determined gaze marking his features. Not wasting a second he leapt; and, just as the boulder exploded into hundreds of peices of stone shrapnel, he crossed paths with it, deflecting the sharp rocks in his progressively spinning form as he shouted "And...!" "**Nikudan Sensha**" At this, he compressed himself into a slightly more compact form and captured his falling comrades in the barrelling flesh cannon-ball that he was.

They dropped.

Chōji spun at a controlled speed, as he let his body fall to the nearest landing of the cliff. With a heavy explosion of rock and dust, Chōji fell, relaxed. He released his technique, and with it, his friends; they all fell out, sprawled on the ground as they panted for air, they could still feel the adreneline speeding through their veins.

"W-We did it! Chōji, you were amazing! And Shikamaru, you were too! But did you see ME!" Ino rattled off at the speed of a gatling gun, singing praise of their little—but impressive, nonetheless—feat.

Chōji managed to stutter out: "Y-You were really good, Ino. D-Did you really think I was...—"

"Of course!" Ino shouted, still high on the moment.

Chōji merely blushed in reply, as he laughed meekly, he was giddy with joy.

Shikamaru stood, dusting himself off, he was relieved that they'd survived... and he was happy that they'd managed to work together so well—all things considered—under pressure... but there was something definitely _off_ about this situation, now that he had a chance to carefully analyze it. One thing was for sure, that was _not_ a coincidence.

Curious, he turned his gaze up towards the very peak of the cliff, still slightly squinting against the barely-present light of the dull sunset.

On the top of the cliff, only one person remained, leaning against the dark-side of an out-of-sight tree, just in case. Shikaku, calm as ever, stood leaning against the tree, and some damn, nagging premonition told him that he was having holes glared in him by the omnipresent intellect of his son. Shikaku grinned. _'That kid's going to run me out of house and home, one of these days...'_ Shaking his head at the ridiculous truth in that thought, he leapt off into the forest to catch up with his friends who, by now, were hopefully _not_ long gone.

From the near base of the cliff, Shikamaru kept his glare fixed at its apex. _'Troublesome...'_

* * *

The calm buzz of Konoha's night-scene permeated the atmosphere, it was almost infectious. Typically at this time of day, on the fringe of the evening and night, the type of people who would routinely propagate the accessible village tended to shift; however, from time to time, there would be those souls who were, for better or worse, caught in the middle and could typically be found seemingly aimlessly wandering the streets. Were they seeking purpose, or was purpose seeking them?

At the moment, one Yūhi Kurenai was one of these such veritable drifters. What she couldn't seem to determine, or rather, what couldn't seemed to be determined about her, was whether she was the seeker or the sought.

Kurenai was a bundle of conflicting thoughts and emotions. This wasn't unusual, she led a stressful and eventful life that she often interpreted as unfulfilling... But this time was different.

_'That girl... Sakura.' _Kurenai shook her head as she rubbed her temples, desperately trying to reach clarity. Trudging through the streets she thoughtlessly avoided careless collisions as she unconsciously headed to her destination. She was taking the _looong_ route.

_Kurenai headed through town, ducking behind various undiscerned objects every few strides. She'd just finished 'staking out' the first two of her three prospective students. At the moment, she was searching for the surprisingly elusive Haruno Sakura._

_At this point, she was giving serious consideration to abandoning her search. She'd already viewed the girl's file several times and decided that she fit the bill... the... undefined bill. She had intelligence, she had diligence, she had a perfectly minute chakra pool—this was something she could work with. She was sure, the file gave a relatively accurate reflection of the subject's personality as well, didn't it? Regardless... she was sure that-_

_"Go away, Ino," She heard a voice call; the voice sounded annoyed._

_"Come on Sakura, are you scared of not graduating tomorrow?" Came another voice, one Kurenai could only assume was 'Ino'—presumably of the Yamanaka clan._

_Deciding to get a closer look, Kurenai followed the sound of the voices, only to find herself in the open. Quickly constructing an illusionary disguise, she appeared to fade into thin air. Undetected and undetectable—at least to those who she seeked to elude—she followed, listening._

_Ino gestured broadly. "Sakura, you'll get to see everyone again! Especially Naruto! Although, I think he's moved on, looks like you missed that boat Deko-Deko-chan!"_

_"I said, go away, Ino-buta! I'm not interested in talking to you."_

_"Oh? Could this be about Sasuke-kun then? You just had to go and show him the ugly... I mean, uglier, side of you, now didn't you?" Ino teased, poking Sakura in the arm._

_Kurenai looked on. She could tell this wasn't going to end well._

_"SHUT UP!" Sakura shouted, her features instantly turning vicious, her eyes held an unbridled glint of rage._

_People in the street stopped to stare, for a moment, before moving on, disregarding the outburst as something trivial upon seeing the source of the shout._

_Ino, however, remained stunned. "W-Woah... Sakura, calm down. I was just kidding about S—"_

_"No! You were right!" Sakura shouted, at a barely lower volume. _

_"It is Sasuke-kun, okay?! It's been on my mind for days! Now leave me, _alone_!" Her voice rang out in a raspy staccato._

_Sakura took off, running as fast as her legs could carry her, before leaping upon the lowest roof she could find and setting off in a wayward direction._

_Kurenai couldn't figure out who was more pained by this, herself, or the Yamanaka heiress. In compilation with the girl's academy record and the emotional volatility that she just displayed, Kurenai could see a phantom reflection of her younger self... It scared her._

Shaking the memory, Kurenai couldn't help but reimmerse herself in thought. _'But... it was never that bad, for me. I had ways out, I had direction... at some point. What'll happen to that girl if she's left to merely self destruct? She... She needs my help.'_

_'I never saw my true self in being a shinobi... it wasn't me. But... I became... it. Or is it more accurate to say that it became me. Then, what did I become? I refused to lose sight of myself but not everyone has that kind of luxury; it's a sick cycle.'_

Kurenai's eyelids fluttered as she awoke from her self-consuming thoughts. Looking up, she saw the characteristic '火' engraved on the identification sign of the Hokage's Tower. Kurenai forced a bittersweet smile as she headed toward the stairs which lead to the entrance she sought.

* * *

Navigating through the winding halls of the Hokage's Tower, heading towards the office of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kurenai walked at a relaxed pace. All she could think about, for now, was whether or not her request would be accepted.

Coming from the opposite side of the curved hallway, Asuma walked at a similar pace, with the same thought in mind. He knew that it was a traditional arrangement, but would his father see him as ready for it? Or maybe, would he think he was over-qualified for the position, and want to reassign him...? It was no matter, he would just have to present his case; this was something he wanted, and something he needed.

It was at the intersection, at the point of the concentric hallway where the door to the Hokage's office could be radially located. It was at this point that Kurenai noticed her colleague.

"A-Asuma," She started, somewhat surprised.

Looking up, Asuma eye's widened at seeing the brunette beauty before him. With a blush, he dismissed his baser mentality and returned the affable greeting, trying to avoid losing himself in her magnetic crimson eyes... "Hey, Kurenai!" He greeted, waving a hand in a sort of mid-air salute.

"Wh-What were you here for, Asuma?" Kurenai asked.

Realizing the implications of her question, she ammended it. "I-I mean, n-not that you can't see your father whenever you... want." She looked away, mildly flustered.

Asuma's blush deepened, in turn. "Oh, umm... I..." He struggled to remember the reason he'd come to see the Hokage... "Oh!" He started with a rise in intonation, causing Kurenai to jump.

"That's right," he continued. "I'm here to request a team... well, not exactly request... but... it's sort of a clan matter... Not... Not that it's none of your business or anything... it's just... _difficult_ to explain...?" He offered.

Kurenai blinked, trying to take in the information she'd been dealt. Quickly recovering, she managed "O-Oh, me too. I mean... not the clan thing... just the other..."

"Teams?" Asuma offered her a potential end for her thought.

"Yes! Team... I... was going to request a team... as well."

"In that case, after you, Kurenai," Asuma offered, gesturing to the door.

Graciously accepting, Kurenai approached the door and knocked. Several seconds later, a muffled drawl of "Enter." could be heard from the other side of the door.

Taking this as permission, Kurenai opened the door and walked in, being careful not to let it slam in her wake. Asuma nodded a bow of appreciation as he placed his hand against the still open door and walked in; once inside, he turned to close it and proceeded to take his place beside Kurenai, facing the Hokage.

Hiruzen regarded the two ninja before him with an even gaze. "Asuma, Kurenai, what a pleasant surprise. To think that I'd have the priviledge of _three_ of my elite Jōnin paying me a personal visit in the same day... To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Both spoke in an even and respectful tone "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Kurenai began "Hokage-sama, I am here tonight to humbly request that I be assigned a Genin squad. I know that I've only become a Jōnin in these past few years, but, I feel that I am ready for the responsibility and I have taken the distinct liberty of finding students I feel could thrive the most under my tutelage; in fact, there is one in particular."

Hiruzen raised a rough eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh...? Before I respond, Kurenai, can I ask why this one _particular_ student is so important to you?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama..." Kurenai diverted her gaze. "She... She reminds me somewhat of my self... B—"

"That's quite enough Kurenai..." Hiruzen closed his eyes as he smiled. "I understand perfectly well. And, I feel that you're more than ready for the responsibility, you're an exceptional shinobi and person in your own right."

Kurenai smiled brightly. With a deep bow, she responded "Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

"Hohoho," Hiruzen laughed a bellowing laugh. "There's no need to be so formal, dear, you're quite deserving of my humble praise."

"Anyway, enough of that... Asuma... I can only assume that you're here for a similar reason?"

"Indeed, Hokage-sama," Asuma replied, a slight grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Hiruzen shared a similar grin. "Have you seen what this generation has to offer, son?"

Asuma could only nod in amazement. "I have, Oyaji... I think they may out-do the trio that made that formation so legendary in the first place..."

"Oh..." Hiruzen polled the idea in amusement. "That _is_ most interesting."

"If you two don't mind the trouble, could you please recite the names of those whom you'd like to be on your respective squads... I'm getting old and I can't keep track of all this anymore!" He exclaimed with a benevolent laugh.

Kurenai went first. "Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino."

Hiruzen nodded, signaling Asuma to iterate his squad's names.

"Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji."

Hiruzen's face creased in a smile. "It's amazing how such a large group of academy students are attracting this much attention... Nine. That's a number that hasn't been met since the days of the Academy's founding."

_'Nine?'_ Thought Kurenai... "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but, didn't you say another elite Jōnin stopped by here today? Did they also request a Genin squad?" Kurenai's mind raced, there were only so many elites in the village—a handful, maybe—who was free to train a squad of fresh Genin?

Hiruzen chuckled at the recollection. "Ah yes, Kakashi did stop by earlier. The squad he requested was _especially_ interesting... I approved his request, of course."

Both Kurenai and the now re-captured Asuma were both baffled. "Kakashi!" They both exclaimed in unison.

Asuma picked up the sentence, still astonished. "Kakashi's notorious for failing Genin left and right, Oyaji, I've seen the records! For him to actually request a squad... that's unheard of!"

Hiruzen simply chortled. Standing up, he lifted his pipe from it's holder on his desk and placed it back into his mouth; he took a refreshing inhalation. He turned to face the surrounding glass look-out-windows and gazed into the night, observing his village. "Exactly."

Clearing his throat, he looked up towards the moon. "What the future holds will surely be a sight worth seeing."

* * *

**A/N: Trying something new here. From now on, I'll be posting the following update's chapter title at the end of each chapter, in an effort to build more anticipation for you guys.**

**Next Time: Chapter 6 - Classification Contention**


	7. Classification Contention

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 6 - Classification Contention**

**A/N: Hello once again, readers! Welcome back. The first thing I have to say is, thank you, everyone, for the reviews and the kind responses; I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, sincerely. Next, although I know that it wasn't quite as good as I could have made it (early morning editing again...), I'm glad to see that the focus I put into the writing paid off. Now... something I've noticed lately is that a lot of new viewers are coming in, viewing the cover page, and then skipping to the chapters they find to be more 'interesting'. Now, while I personally don't care what you do, it's entirely up to you, I should warn you that you should only skip chapters of this story at the risk of your own satisfaction. I'm not a complete stiff, I will put chapters in at some point that won't **_**necessarily**_** effect the overall message of the story, and without them, the story would be clear enough... however, there won't be any chapters in this story that can **_**truly**_** be skipped; they all have pertinent information that moves the story forward, **_**especially**_** these first 7 chapters. After the first 7, it'd be a bit silly to skip, as most of the chapters will either be extremely pertinent, or action packed; they won't be something you'd want to miss. This was just something I thought I'd bring up. You're free to do as you please, but you should know that I'm not a push-over author and you're only doing it at the risk of your own understanding and enjoyment! **

**Hmm... this note isn't too long yet, so I suppose I can give some brief responses. Let's see:**

**jascat: **I hate Sakura as well, but I can promise you, I plan to 'work her' differently than canon did. I don't want to reveal too much, just know that (and this is to everyone), you shouldn't be too 'upset' by any of the things you see... To a point that it'd deter you from the story. Yes, they're meant to evoke emotion (that's why I write them as I do...), but there is a meaning to everything that's happening. This serves to reply to Rose Tiger as well: Yes, Sakura _does_ need to apologize. That's a long time coming, though.

**Codaram: **Thank you, once again. (I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. Where is the 'thank you' to end all 'thank you's?) Anyway, though, I've gone through and fixed that accent mark problem; I prefer the mark too, it looks more 'official', heh. Yes, the flashback was short, but it was just to make a point. Read on to find out.

**tim lee1: **I'm disappointed that you feel that way, but, thank you for your vote of good luck.

***To everyone*: **I'm sorry if you feel the story is 'taking too long', but you have to keep in mind, it's a _very long story_. It may come up to a total of 300 chapters, or more. If I spend 5 giving depth to my other characters, can you really blame me? I can promise, NaruHina will be a central point of this story, probably one of the most important factors short of the plot itself, but it's not _everything_. I apologize, but I just can't please everyone. This is to please myself, more than anything. Nonetheless, though, I hope you can bear with me and _try_ to enjoy it.

**Guest: **I've been waiting for you. #Supert history

**Before we get into it, folks, I must suggest that you all stop by my profile, there are a few little notices that I believe a large amount of you may be interested in. Thank you.**

**Now, please enjoy Chapter 6.**

* * *

The day was upon them. It was a new month, and the long awaited, and anticipated, or, in certain cases, dreaded day of Graduation had arrived. It was January 1. One person was particularly motivated, though, beyond all reasonable doubt. This person, was none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

An orange-clad figure could be seen falling through the air, headed for an unoccupied patch of ground directly within his field of trajectory. Konoha was a ninja village; typically, people would ignore the day-to-day activity of the ninja populous; it was none of their business, and it seldom disturbed them. The activities of _this_ rapidly plummeting figure, however, were a different story.

"WAHOO! Today's the day I finally graduate! I'm going to be a ninja!" Naruto blared as he fell through the air. As he landed, he startled a passing mother and her young child. Chuckling apologetically, he murmured, "Sorry about that, guys. I need to watch where I'm going, I'm just a little excited today!"

"Coool!" Exclaimed the child in youthful wonder. Tugging at his mother's shirt-sleeve, he beckoned, "Okā-san, look, look! Did you see the cool ninja guy!"

With a single, snide glance in Naruto's general direction, the woman promptly decided that he wasn't worth the acknowledgement. With a rigid change of direction, she turned her nose up and grasped her son's collar, giving him a firm tug to signal him to follow. "_Wild brat..._" She muttered to herself as she walked away, dragging her still star-struck and very confused child with her, ignoring his every protest.

Naruto watched the family go. He still wore a goofy grin, unperterbed by the ever-present resentment a large majority of the village held towards him; to this day, he didn't fully understand it, but on this day, _specifically_, it was inconsequential. He had too much to be happy about; it was his day.

Dismissing the situation, Naruto turned and began to jog towards the academy at a moderated pace, dodging the people as they came and went through the broad streets. Amongst the flock, Naruto's wandering eyes picked out a distinctly familiar head of midnight-blue hair. _'Hinata-chan!'_ He thought happily.

Without thought, he proceeded to jump over a few less-than-pleased denizens, excitedly making his way toward his pale lavender-eyed best friend. And, with a final leap, Naruto landed right behind Hinata. Gently placing his hand on her shoulder, he greeted her, "Morning, Hinata-chan!"

Startled, Hinata sharply turned her head in the direction that the voice had emanated from. Upon seeing Naruto, Hinata's look of shock was soon replaced with a pleasant smile. "Good morning, Naruto-kun."

Picking up the pace a little, to keep in step with Hinata, Naruto continued. "Are you excited about today as I am?" He inquired, his eagerness spilling out in his words.

"Definitely, Naruto-kun," she assured him, before adding, with a hint of sadness creeping about the perimeter of her features, "b-but... I'm still worried that we won't be placed on the same t-team..."

Sensing her mild dejection, Naruto sought to reassure her. "Don't worry about it Hinata-chan," he said, waving a hand to and fro in front of himself, as if refusing something, "I'm sure they'll put us on the same team just because we're so awesome! We'll be the strongest team ever!"

Hinata giggled, despite how ideal that would be, she highly doubted the logic behind it. "But... Naruto-kun... Isn't the general idea u-usually to balance the teams?"

Naruto, having still been utterly enthralled in his ridiculous 'super team'-tangent, was brought crashing back to Earth by Hinata's reasoning. "Uh-," he choked out, a hand remained raised up with pointer finger erect, as if to make a point. He paused... trying to find some way to penetrate her virtual rationale fortification.

As they walked on, Hinata looked on in curious expectance, upon Naruto's still frozen features. His mouth still hung open... perhaps he intended to say something? "N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata gently prompted him.

The gears in his mind turned, searching, querying every available deposit of information for some sort of response. Alas, in the end, he came up with nothing. Dropping his head in solemn defeat, the posture of Naruto's pointer finger deteriorated in conjunction with his spirits. "You're right... maybe it's hopeless..."

As sad as it was, Hinata couldn't help but smile at Naruto's fluctuating emotions; he was so animated! She did still feel the need to console him, though. "Maybe there will be an exception... We j-just have to hope," she offered.

Naruto grabbed for the proverbial straw. "Really? You really think so, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata nodded in reply, giving him all the reassurance he needed.

"Alright!" He cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

In his excitement, he'd come to realize how far they'd actually come since they began walking. Looking ahead, he could see the main entrance, quite apparently. He turned his head to Hinata. "Hinata-chan," he started, grabbing her attention, "we're already here."

Hinata looked away from Naruto and toward the large school-buildings. As they approached the entrance, her confidence began to steadily evaporate. She lowered her gaze and brought her hands together, in a characteristic nervous habit, and began to press her pointer fingers together. The pressures of her already stringent family weighed heavily on her fragile emotions. Before they could enter the building, she stopped short, she gulped slowly as she receded into her thoughts.

_'She is weak.'_

_'She is not receptive to instruction. This is folly.'_

_'She cannot handle basic examination, what makes you think she's prepared for the life of a ninja? Especially representing the Hyūga.'_

_'Useless girl.'_

_'Why is it, that you were born into the Main Family. It is almost a direct mockery of those who are competent in the Branch.'_

_'She is no longer qualified to be the heiress; she must be replaced.'_

_'Plagued by childish notions and governed by her feelings... It is a pitiful combination, not befitting of a Hyūga.'_

"Hinata-chan?" The voice of her crush shocked her back into the present.

She raised her head, looking to the left, in the direction of Naruto. "N-Naruto-kun? What's wrong?"

"You were in like a trance or something, I tried calling you about 4 times..." Naruto angled himself to more properly face her. "Are you okay?"

"I... I was just thinking ab-about the... " She thought for a moment. "... the graduation spars. I'm f-fine..." She stretched the truth, hoping consciously that Naruto wouldn't press the question.

Naruto had watched her eyes as she spoke; he knew that she wasn't as confident as she pretended to be. Despite his usual oblivious nature, he was becoming more attuned to the signals that his best friend gave off; he knew she wasn't quite 'fine'. "Hinata-chan," he said, reaching his hand out and placing it atop her shoulder, "lets do this!" He encouraged her, bringing his free hand up into a gusto-packed 'thumbs-up'.

Hinata was filled with a familiar warmth, almost instantaneously. _'Naruto-kun...'_ She brought her head back up to it's previous stature and turned towards Naruto with an equally bright smile. As she was about to nod in happy agreement, a not-so-subtle "Tch." could be heard, coming from behind them.

A quickly moving Uchiha Sasuke brushed past the still posing Naruto, deliberately bumping into him, with his shoulder held out. Sasuke was prepared to enter the building without so much as another sound, until Naruto called out to him. "Hey! What was that all about, Sasuke!"

Without so much as turning, Sasuke shot a cold glance over his shoulder at Naruto. "It's the only gentle reminder you'll get. You should know your place, failure." With a quick glance at Hinata, and a flash of a smirk, Sasuke returned his gaze forward and continued into the building.

At this, Naruto's mouth had crooked itself into a loose scowl as he kept his eyes on the exact path Sasuke had taken into the building.

Seeing, but not believing, what had just occurred, it took Hinata a moment to register that Naruto was in fact, still suffering from the under-handed blow. Softening her gaze, she reached her hand out—albeit, hesitantly—to place it against Naruto's arm.

The physical contact brought him from his thoughts. Naruto blinked once before turning to face Hinata, his eyes not betraying his mild confusion.

"I know that you will graduate successfully... Naruto-kun," Hinata stated confidently.

Seeing the sincerity apparent in her words, match the intensity of the honesty in her gaze, Naruto couldn't help but sprout a wide grin. "You know it! Dattebayo!"

* * *

The last instructional day of their unbegun ninja careers was on the verge of starting. They all sat in their usual seats. The seats that they'd grown so accustomed to over the years; stories had been exchanged, friends had been made and lost, lessons had been... sat through; these seats held the elusive memories of their schooling history.

All over the classroom, students found ways to pass the time. Some slept, some studied for the written test they'd already taken... and passed, some ate, but, most talked. In the middle column and back row, Naruto sat a few inches apart from Hinata at the desk that he had come to be a resident at, they sat in peace. Naruto's mind was stuck on something though; Sakura. Ever since that day, nearly three months ago, he had taken to staying out of her way. At this point, he wasn't really sure what he thought of her, but, just as old habits die-hard, apparently, so did old memories.

This, however, wasn't what plagued Naruto's conscious thought, at the moment. Something was definitely _off_ about the typically bubbly pink-haired kunoichi. Granted, she'd been different ever since that day, no, even before that; but this... was something on a different level.

Sakura sat at her desk—if you could call it sitting; she sat hunched over the desk-top, her elbows planted firmly apart with her hands open, pressed against her face. Her arms supported her head, and seemingly her upper-body like thin, weather-beaten pillars. Sakura's characteristic bow was missing from her dress ensemble and her bubble-gum-pink hair lay in a rugged, disshevled mop atop her head. If one were to look closely, which Naruto was, they would be able to see the wrinkles in her usually steam-pressed-neat dress; a tell-tale sign of it being reused. Above all, though, her seafoam-green eyes fell on the empty desk-top, devoid of any notable expression, and every few seconds, seemed to unconsciously dart in the general direction of where Sasuke was seated; she was generally oblivious to even the person seated mere inches away from her: Yamanaka Ino.

Just as Naruto's gaze was beginning to become an inactive stare, he caught sight of their teacher, Umino Iruka entering the room and making his way to the center of the class, where he settled, standing before the podium.

After taking a cursory glance around the room, Iruka decided it was best to grab everyone's attention before beginning to speak. Looking up to give the impression of maintaining eye-contact with all of those who could see him, he cleared his throat. Once. Twice. On the third time, he caught a fair amount of eyes looking to him in conjunction with a noticeable decline in the class' overall volume. Satisfied, he began, "Good morning class, and welcome back!"

The class extended a droned greeting back to him, blending a mixture of varying murmurs of "Hello", "Good Morning", "Morning", and a handful more into a collectively unintelligible groan; he smirked at their lack of enthusiasm.

Disregarding the inadequate greeting, Iruka continued, "Today, all of you who are able to demonstrate the basic skills required of novice ninja, will be inducted into the village military system, as official ninja of Konohagakure! You've all been given this past week as opportunity to withdraw from the academy, so, I can only assume that all of you here today are committed to becoming ninja?" Finishing his statement, Iruka looked around the room to affirm his belief in the assumption; when he received only nods and steady stares, he nodded in satisfaction.

"With that... there's something that must be said to those of you remaining, as it is pertinent to all of you," Iruka further stated. With a heavy sigh, he continued, raising a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose; the thought pained him. "I'm certain that there are those of you who've noticed that Mizuki is missing..."

Around the room, there were several surprised gasps, but, for the most part, there was a consistent trend of knowing nods, confused looks and young faces etched with nervous anticipation. Then, there were those who noticed that Iruka had dropped the courtesy of the title 'sensei' that he typically extended to his colleagues.

Shikamaru, in particular, was one of these perceptive students. "Iruka-sensei..." He spoke in a lazy drawl, creasing his brow. "Are you implying that Mizuki-san is no longer affiliated with the academy?"

Shaking his head, still in disbelief at the entire matter, Iruka managed, "Shikamaru... I'm saying that Mizuki is no longer affiliated with Konoha." Turning to once again face the entire class, and leveling his stern gaze, Iruka explained the situation. "Mizuki is a traitor to Konoha... I can't believe we've had him under our noses for the past 7 years... Mizuki attempted to steal some secret documents belonging to Konoha, and deliver them to an enemy of the village, country, and potentially the world: Orochimaru..."

Just as Iruka was about to continue, an unexpected voice cut through the shocked silence of the class. "Iruka..." Sasuke spoke. "Who is Orochimaru? If he is so well known... and so dangerous, why haven't we learned about him...?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke, watching his calculated, onyx gaze hold Iruka to the spot.

Taking a moment to think, as he watched Sasuke, he finally decided to speak. "People have potential in them that we, or they may not even realize... Orochimaru's exploits were taken out of the curriculum because we were afraid that we would _inspire_ another ruthless ambitionist." Iruka returned Sasuke's hard, unwavering gaze.

After a moment, Iruka continued. "However, since you've taken an interest, Sasuke... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell the class the most important information about him. Orochimaru was one of the renowned Legendary Sannin; he was a student of Sandaime-sama... the third student. He did a great service for the village in the Second and Third Great Ninja War... He was regarded as a hero. Orochimaru was always the prodigy of the group, he was described by Hokage-sama as having that 'special _shine_'... that wondrous affinity for everything; it would motivate you to teach, and teach... Orochimaru was ambitious, though. He wanted to keep growing stronger, and stronger; his goal was to master every technique; his goal was to be immortal. The problem was, he saw nothing as a boundary for his goals, including the lives of his fellow ninja... The rest isn't of any concern to Genin; it's classified information." Iruka abruptly ended the brief anecdote.

Sasuke tightened his gaze, his hands still raised in front of his face—weaved together—as he supported his chin and head with firmly interlocking thumbs. _'Orochimaru...' _He rolled the thought about his cerebral maw.

Iruka addressed the class, once more. "Now, class, settle down," he spoke authoritatively, and waited for the side-conversations to simmer to an unnoticeable buzz, "I'm going to be explaining the graduation exams that you will all take today; even if you've heard this before, I suggest you listen. There will be a Ninjutsu and Taijutsu portion; you will be assessed on all E-rank techniques necessary for graduation and basic Academy Taijutsu. This year, however, we're attempting something new. A post-examination of the Taijutsu pre-assessement, instead of the traditional Taijutsu exams. You'll be assessed on a rating scale before the class as well as observed to see if _at least_ basic skills are up to par; this is a more accurate application of a Taijutsu assessment idiom, as it is a practical demonstration of your possessed Taijutsu ability, applied to a real situation—versus the traditional form-display."

With that said, Iruka looked up, regarding the entirety of the class with a genuine smile. "You've all had time to prepare... and I'm proud of all the future ninja who sit before me today... I look forward to having all of you as colleagues!" Turning his head slightly, Iruka captured Naruto's beaming visage, and let his own features crease into a complete smile. _'I know you'll make it, Naruto.'_

Bursting with excitement, and beaming with a toothy grin, Naruto jumped to his feat, slamming his palms against the table-top. "Let's go Iruka-sensei! I want to graduate already!" He carefully modulated the energy that he put into this display, however, so as to not startle his desk-mate.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched at the sound of Naruto's voice, in a brief moment of recognition, Sakura rose her head somewhat. Without turning to Naruto, she began to speak in a tone that characteristically preluded a shout, "Naruto... Don't interrupt Iruka-sensei! Why can't you be mor—"

Sakura's statement was cut short by a curt command that ripped through the air, severing Sakura's brief brush with cognizance and sending her drifting back into her out-of-touch state. "Sakura. Be quiet," Sasuke spoke.

Sakura imperceptibly, albeit unconsciously, shuddered at the bite behind Sasuke's words.

Sasuke paid the reaction no mind, merely turning his passive gaze back toward the front of the room.

Naruto reaffixed his vision on Sasuke, not hardly missing the tinge of disgust tinting his otherwise clear eyes. The rest of the class, however, couldn't keep their eyes from constantly shifting between Sakura and Sasuke.

Iruka, once again, reclaimed focus, and with a tired sigh, he decided to proceed. "Naruto has a point. We do need to begin. We'll do the Ninjutsu examination first, going in alphabetical order by Family name. First, Aburame Shino..."

As soon as Iruka had begun to call students to the front of the room to perform their Ninjutsu examination, Naruto had tuned him out, knowing that he would be last. He needed time to mentally prepare...

For the first time since class had begun, Sasuke allowed himself a glance in Naruto's direction. _'This is where it ends, Naruto. Then I can finally be rid of you. You always were an obstacle, in my experience in this class; now, you're going to be disenrolled from the Academy and forgotten, like the nuisance you are.'_

Student after student reported to the front of the classroom to demonstrate their ability to perform the required E-rank techniques. Most of them were reasonably successful, some, though, evidently had either more practice, aptitude or, a lucky combination of the two, than others.

Finally, the last name was called. Looking up from his clipboard, which he now held in-hand, Iruka spoke, "Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, upon hearing his name. Standing up, and sparing a quick glance toward Hinata, Naruto turned to face Iruka once more, and, sliding out from the space between the edge of his chair and the beginning of the barrier that was the desk he'd been seated at, he began his descent. Taking careful steps, he slowly approached the front of the room, he took caution to balance his weight in each stride, so as not to loose balance when shifting to a new platform. Reaching the base of the in-built staircase, Naruto turned and looked back on the class. All eyes were on him, but he found encouragement solely in those tranquil pools of gentle lavender, that were Hinata's eyes. He smiled. Turning once more, with a swift pivot on the ball of his leading foot, Naruto proceeded forward and righted himself, presenting himself before the class and his examiner. He looked to Iruka, awaiting further instruction.

"Naruto," Iruka began, setting aside his clipboard to focus on the student before him, "please perform the Henge technique. Assume my form."

Naruto nodded, and brought his hands together: one positioned slightly higher in the seal than the other, with the index and middle finger of both hands standing straight; he had formed the 'Ram' seal. "**Henge**" Naruto intoned. In a subsequent burst of smoke, a perfect replica of Iruka was found to be standing in Naruto's place.

Iruka nodded, pleased with the results. "Alright, Naruto. Now, please perform the Bunshin technique. You are to create 4 stable Bunshin that can be used for distraction, confusion and misdirection."

_'Breathe Naruto,'_ he coached himself, closing his eyes for concentration. _'We've done this before, all that training with Hinata-chan wasn't for nothing!'_ His eyes sprung open. _'Alright,'_ he thought, _'here we go.'_

_'Hitsuji-Mi-Tora,'_ he thought as he sped through the hand-signs. "**Bunshin no Jutsu**" He called out, powering through the pressure he felt to succeed. A massive cloud of smoke materialized around the area Naruto had been standing in...

_'Oh no...'_ Thought Iruka, disappointedly. _'Don't tell me, after all he's been doing... he still didn't...'_

Iruka's train of thought was disrupted however, when the smoke cleared enough to reveal a small troop, consisting of 20 copies of Naruto, standing with nearly perfect posture, saluting the class. "I did it!" Shouted all the clones at once, causing Iruka to burst out in laughter. "Naruto, that's amazing! When did you master the Bunshin... to that extent?!"

With a bashful chuckle, Naruto commented, "Well... I have my best friend, Hinata-chan, to thank for helping me with my chakra control..."

Sitting at their shared desk, Hinata was attempting to deflect all of the sudden attention by squeezing as much of herself as she could into her jacket. _'N-Naruto-kun...!' _She buried her intensifying blush under the layers of fabric that her faithful jacket provided, wishing for the first time, that she could recall, for Naruto to forget that she'd spent all of that time with him.

Off to the far corner of the room, Sasuke sat in solitude, observing the scene before him. Inside, he hated what he saw.

* * *

It was unusually quiet outside. The majority of the school year took place when the outside was teeming with the foliage and fauna that called Konoha home. And, although it was Winter, today was a particularly brisk day. The air popped and pricked against the skin with tension, like hot oil; this, only served to add to the effect the cold temperatures had on blood flow, and the subsequent result of the lack of such a thing.

The fresh Genin-candidates had assembled outside, before a makeshift sparring circle that had been etched into the ground, presumably a long while ago; it had since faded. It was not too small, but it was certainly not large enough. Trees, littered with kunai and abandoned wooden targets completed the surrounding background; this was a nigh on ubiquitous factor in Konoha.

The students stood, silent, sparing glances to their teacher every now and then. The silence was eating at them.

Looking around, Iruka checked to make sure that everyone was gathered. Satisfied, he raised his clipboard, once again, and began to explain the procedure. "Okay... let's begin the spars. I'll be calling out two names at random, these names were paired deliberately, before the intercession. The people by the two names that are called are to report to their respective sides of the sparring circle, bow, and commence with the spar. No Ninjutsu is allowed, but, if it is inclusive in your distinct style of Taijutsu, Kekkei Genkai usage is permissible."

Each student let their eyes drift between the clipboard and Iruka, wondering which was the decider of their fate.

"First will be... Kudo Aomori, and Aburame Shino."

The two students glanced at each other, pausing for a moment to assess their to-be adversary. Satisfied, Shino led the way to the make-shift ring, ready to begin the spar. Aomori followed in his stead, he did his best to keep a safe distance from the mysterious member of the Aburame clan...

In the crowd, several people payed scarce attention to the spars. Two of these people, were Naruto and Hinata.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto spoke in a hushed voice, aiming the words at the girl standing beside him.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Hinata responded, looking to her immediate right.

"You seem a little bit nervous... are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"I... I'm just a l-little bit nervous about having to f-fight Sasuke-san..." Hinata admitted.

Naruto turned to her. "What? You're worried because you may have to fight Sasuke?" Naruto glanced towards Sasuke, over his shoulder. "You really shouldn't worry about him, he's no big deal."

"B-But... Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san seems to hold you in contempt... and he's very powerful for our age..."

Naruto waved his hand in front of himself dismissively. "Nah, Hinata-chan, he's only dangerous when he uses all of his fireball techniques," Naruto spoke while gesturing with his hands to create the image of a large ball being forcibly expelled from his mouth, in conjunction, he added sound effects in an attempt to simulate a sizzling fire—unfortunately, he ended up sounding more like a hissing snake: '_sssss-,_' "you're a Taijutsu specialist, right Hinata-chan?" She nodded in response, still somewhat dumbfounded by his 'special effects'. "No problem then! You know, if anyone should be nervous, it's me. I may get paired up against you, and I know that you can kick my ass..."

Hinata couldn't help but attempt to stifle a powerful spasm of giggling, after being broken out of her speechlessness by such a ridiculous insinuation. She didn't believe she could do such a thing... she wasn't that strong. "Na-Naruto-kun! That's not true..."

"It is!" He vehemently insisted, waving his arms above his head for emphasis.

"I... Even if it were t-true... I would never hurt you, Naruto-kun..." Hinata responded, diverting her look in a futile attempt to hide her blush at the revealing (or so she thought) admission.

Naruto felt an unfamiliar and unknown warmth grip at his heart upon hearing Hinata's words. Mentally, there was no register; there was no comparison. But something in him... something deep within him recognized the feeling. All he could make of it was, that he enjoyed it immensely. _'So this is what having a _truly_ close friend feels like...?'_ Despite his ignorance, though, Naruto knew better. This was more than the feeling of camaradarie, if the heat welling up in his cheeks and soul was anything to go by, that is. As Naruto was struggling to find the words to respond with, him, along with Hinata and the other students who found themselves to have been in a daze were snapped out of their musing by a recurring, strong voice.

"Next: Hyūga Hinata, and Haruno Sakura," Iruka called out again, for clarity.

As Naruto was about to wish Hinata luck in her spar, he and Hinata both were distracted by seeing Sakura make a virtual bee-line for... Sasuke.

Hinata was given pause, but she quickly re-established her situation and began to make her way to the sparring circle to await Sakura's imminent arrival.

Sakura meekly approached the still stolid Sasuke. By this point, her ways were already pre-programmed, and all she needed to fulfill her self-encoded 'purpose' was opportunity. Sasuke being available, was one such opportunity. "S-Sasuke-kun," she began, parlaying with her last, remaining shred of composure. "w-wish me lu-luck... o-k-kay?" She nearly begged.

In turn, Sasuke regarded the frail spirit to the immediate left of himself with distaste. After a moment, he twisted his features into a cold sneer, and with a terse "Hn", turned his head towards the now approaching-the-ring Hinata and offhandedly offered, entirely dismissing Sakura. "Good luck... Hinata."

In Sakura's mind there was a small _crack_ to be heard. With a destroyed and empty look about her countenance, she drudged towards the ring, following the aforementioned Hyūga.

Hinata jerk her head back towards Sasuke in mild shock. _'W-What...did he...?' _Quickly refocusing, Hinata turned her attention back towards her opponent.

Naruto nearly snapped his neck, at the speed which he did a double take between the smirking Uchiha and his friend, a look of shock plastered on his visage.

Sasuke's look soon returned to its impassive norm as he watched the two kunoichi stand apart from each other, both in completely different mental states.

Naruto crossed his arms, folding them across his chest as he observed the stand-off. _'Come on... Hinata-chan. You can do this.'_

Iruka interjected, wanting to bring the sparring progress out of it's current stagnation. "You two may begin whenever you're ready..."

Hinata took this as a cue, hoping that Sakura would come out of her lost daze at a sign of the fight beginning. Standing up straight, Hinata maneuvered her hands before herself, holding them in a loose Jūken form. Repositioning her feet to better accommodate her center-of-gravity, she completed the stance, her knees slightly bent.

Swallowing her inhibitions, Hinata attempted to reach her far-off opponent. "S-Sakura-san... I'm sorry. I... I don't harbor any resentment... I d-don't want there to be any hard feelings between us... Please, let's have a fair fight..." Hinata gently worded her offer of sportsmanship, sans Byakugan.

Sakura's head snapped up violently from it's semi-cocked state as her eyes regained focus, an unhealthy focus. "Fair?" Sakura asked, quietly. "_Fair_?!" She repeated incredulously, causing Hinata to jump slightly. "What would a stupid, stuck-up Hyūga know about fair?!" She spat, her eyes wild with bitter longing.

Naruto's eyes widened, reverberating slightly at the caustic nature of Sakura's words... _'What's happened to her...?'_

Observing from the sidelines, Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes and commented, with unwitting magnitude, "Sakura! Stop wasting time, and fight, we don't have all day."

Sakura's muscles went into spasm in the wake of her rapidly escalating anger. Letting out a cry at being unable to handle what she was hearing, Sakura violently charged forward, beginning a malicious whirlwind of uncoordinated strikes, directed at Hinata.

Hinata was taken aback by the ferocity of the onslaught. She back-stepped, observing Sakura's wild gaze. _'She's actually trying to h-hurt me...' _Hinata instantly shook her head, dismissing the thought and the unvoiced accusation. Hinata struggled to deflect the random blows with the intent to redirect; this was not Taijutsu. _'She... Why would she...?' _Hinata couldn't shake the thought, it kept burrowing it's way back to the forefront of her thoughts, insisting on being acknowledged. It was slowly but surely becoming apparent to the still evading Hinata that maybe... just maybe...

Sakura jumped a minimal distance off the ground and merely swung her leg up and out, in a vain attempt to perhaps take Hinata's head off. Hinata took the opportunity to jump back a few meters and distance herself. "S-Sakura-san! I... I don't want to fight you like this!"

But Sakura merely ignored her words. She continued to throw uncontrolled strikes, swinging her arms violently and occasionally raising a leg for a vicious lob in an effort to tear down the manifestation of her demons that she'd transposed unto Hinata.

"AHH!" Sakura shouted, charging forward in reckless abandon.

Hinata ducked under the vicious blow, still giving reason the benefit of the doubt. "Sakura-san! Please, stop!" But, it was to no avail. Forced to spin into an expertly executed series of bobs and weaves throughout Sakura's shoddy deterrent, Hinata juxtaposed herself to Sakura's supporting foot and spun behind her. Stumbling back slightly, in the aftermath of the spontaneous maneuver, Hinata managed to maintain her breathing at a slow and controlled, yet nervous rate.

Sakura stumbled forward, unable to gain her balance as she collapsed over her inadvertently swept foot. She collapsed on the hard soil; a feeble, heavily breathing, and still readily volatile heap—with hands murderously digging finger-sized trenches in the dirt.

Hinata slipped into a standing position, hesitantly. With a re-aligning breath, she raised her hand, palm open, above her head and spoke out, alerting Iruka. "I-Iruka-sensei... I forfeit..."

Iruka, now back in-touch, looked up and with a slight pause, relented. "Umm... That's... Alright, Hinat—" Iruka, however, was shortly cut off by an unscrupulous vociferation. "NO!"

Sakura shakily stood up, ailed by rage. "She can't! We're not done!"

Sakura began to stalk towards Hinata, but before she got remotely close to reaching her, Naruto spoke up. "Sakura! Stop! Hinata-chan didn't do anything to you!"

Sakura rose her head to meet the awestruck and condemning eyes of her classmates; more importantly, though, she caught the looks of Hinata, Naruto, Ino and... Sasuke. Shaking her head, she tried to speak. "I—" The looks remained. "I... I—" The looks _still_ remained... Dropping her head sullenly, she proceeded to attempt to blend back into the crowd of students, returning to her initial realm of malignant depression. The other academy students kept a safe distance from her; they were afraid of being the subject of another unexpected outburst, they didn't say it, but she knew it... She knew it.

With a much needed deep breath, Iruka raised his clipboard to eye level and examined it, searching for a new pair of names to select. He called out, almost regretfully, "Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

There was a moment of silence.

Naruto and Sasuke will wordlessly proceed to the sparring circle, eyeing each other out as they walked; they left their motor mechanics to muscle memory, too focused on each other to make any sort of conscious effort. The only sound that could be _felt_ was the gentle, earthy _scrape_ of their sandles against the earth.

Reaching their respective opposites of the crude circle, they remained, fixated on the subtle movements of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet and hands. Sasuke took the initiative, taking a single, hard step forward, he was halted by Naruto bowing. He merely lowered his head in response, wordlessly refusing to angle his chin at any further than 25 degrees.

His foot still remained out, in a walking stance; he felt he was in no danger.

"Sasuke... Good luck," Naruto stated, never taking his eyes off of his rigid opponent.

"Naruto. Don't patronize me. We both know how this will end; just as we did last time," Sasuke spoke at a steady monotone, unrelenting in his gaze.

Naruto started, much like he did all those years ago, with a chakra spiked lunge he flung himself through the air, arm cocked back with a fist balled—his grip as hard as steel. Sasuke darted from his out-stretched foot, spinning to the right to coincide with Naruto's unguarded broadside.

Naruto's vigorous punch slipped past Sasuke as he ducked his head forward ever so slightly. Bringing his arm around, folded over to bring his elbow to a rough point, he slammed it back, timing Naruto's fall perfectly; the elbow slammed into Naruto's rib cage, causing him to wince in pain.

Knowing that Naruto was bound to fly back from the propulsion his elbow-strike had redirected, Sasuke opted to continue the assault. Spinning on his left heel, he spun back in the opposite direction, aiming a back-handed fist at Naruto's vulnerable face.

Naruto, however, saw this coming after he'd notice Sasuke's direction change; he also knew, though, that he was incredibly vulnerable to the strike, there was no way he could dodge...

Sasuke's fist picked up momentum as it went, until he felt the satisfying dull _smack_ of his knuckles slamming into the blond fool's jaw. He smiled to himself. _'Perfect.'_

"Sasukeee!" Naruto shouted, catching Sasuke's attention. "Never turn your back on an opponent!" He exclaimed, drawing his free fist back as he held Sasuke's still out-stretched fist with his right hand.

Following the momentum that he generated from throwing his fist forward with the rest of his body attached, Naruto nearly slammed the free fist into Sasuke's nose. Sasuke, in the nick of time, hopped back, bringing the previously captured hand with him. At this point, though, he was stumbling.

Naruto took the opportunity with a happy smirk, lunging forward Naruto followed up with a full-swing high sweep, aiming for Sasuke's open mid-section. Sasuke kept attempting to back-pedal, his balance still escaping him. Naruto finally had an opening.

He weaved forward, jumping to the left and right to throw off Sasuke's balance even further as he progressed closer and closer to the Uchiha. _'Now!'_ Naruto faked a short jab with his right hand, swiftly pulling it back, he used it as a pivot for his hips; with a bolstered speed, he sent his left fist slamming brutally into Sasuke's open cheek, jerking his head violently to the left.

The pain the Uchiha felt pulsating over the nerves in his face, at the blunt impact of the steeled fist, brought the scorn of yesterday rocketing to the predominancy of his mind.

_Ishika began to turn to leave, but midway, he paused to speak "Power is truly a tragic thing, but, we all are endowed with the potential to achieve it. It's an inalienable factor of human existence. Although it is important what you do to gain it, it's truly important what you do with it... if you make the right choice in the end..."_

_Sasuke had been lamenting. Staring emptily at the ground in hopes of some sort of answer... How could he have lost? What had happened? Was he really right...?_

_In the last moments of his thought-cycle, though, Ishika's words had interrupted. No, they had not simply interrupted, they had impacted..._

_'Heh...'_ rung out in Sasuke's mind. _'Here's where I prove you wrong, you senile old fool.'_

Naruto watched Sasuke, who seemed to be frozen by his strike, his hair blocking his wayward-facing eyes from sight, covering his face in shadow. A steady trickle of blood ran down Sasuke's lip.

Just as he planned to retract his hand, though, Sasuke moved at a much faster speed than it was initially anticipated that he was capable of, catching the wrist of the offending arm in a vice grip.

Sasuke turned his head back to Naruto, facing him fully, Sharingan blazing. Bringing an elbow up with nearly twice his previous speed, he smashed it down into Naruto's opposite shoulder with a sickening _thud_; following up his previous strike, he brought up a leg and jutted it out, heavily connecting with Naruto's chest cage as he let go of the previously locked-in wrist, sending him flying backwards.

Naruto was stunned, both in pain, and in shock. _'What the hell? How did he...'_ He wasn't able to complete the thought, though, as he was forced to defend himself from a rapid-fire flurry of precise fist-strikes, interleaved with kicks to every imaginable vulnerability on his body. _'He's reading me...'_

Naruto brought up his arms in a cross-block to defend against the fourth punch in the gatling gun succession Sasuke had just assaulted his body with, which had resulted in 3 bruised ribs. _'Damn...'_

Sasuke followed up with a leaping roundhouse, which he brought down diagonally at the intersection of Naruto's neck muscles and tendons. Spiraling off of that momentum, Sasuke reached down with a cupped hand and caught Naruto's shoulder to use as leverage to flip himself over Naruto. Back to back, Sasuke countered every move that Naruto attempted to use, before the move even became apparent to the on looking crowd; he struck his wrists to prevent punches, his elbows to prevent strikes, his under arms to prevent counters, his neck and ribs to draw on the aide of old injuries, and a succession of other weak areas to follow up with.

_'This is crazy, he's breaking me...'_

_'This is wonderful... I can see everything he does as if it were in slow motion; it almost feels like he's letting me win... as it should be.'_

In a final desperate lunge, Naruto jumped over Sasuke. Spinning around, he planned to throw a solid hook right to Sasuke's unsuspecting throat, but in the place where Sasuke had been, he found nothing... _'What?!'_ Then he saw it. A flash of blue in his lower peripheral vision; Sasuke had ducked low under the punch long before Naruto had even completed turning around, he was ready.

_'And this... is the end.'_

Balancing on the ball of his left foot, Sasuke hooked his right leg in a crooked arc, striking the backs of Naruto's knees and following through by righting himself. Pulling Naruto through the stance, he effectively brought his legs entirely out from under him, letting him land back-first against the ground, his head deftly falling back against the coarse dirt, his arm still outstretched as if to punch. His arm fell, with a faint _tshh_.

With the wind knocked out of him, Naruto coughed, and, with a wince, glanced up at Sasuke against the sun, with only a single eye half open. _'I'm still... not strong enough to beat him,' _Naruto thought, as he stared into Sasuke's piercing, crimson Sharingan.

_'Naruto-kun...' _Hinata thought, observing from the sidelines.

"Tch," Sasuke barely uttered as he swiveled on his heel, and nonchalantly strode away from his opponent. "Iruka," he commented, already reimmersing himself in the crowd, "the fight is over."

With a grunt, Naruto pushed himself up on one arm, watching as Sasuke walked away. He was soon brought out of his focus, though, by Hinata kneeling down at his side. "A-Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

Turning to Hinata, he quickly attempted to cover the situation, try to forcefully contort his expression into his jubilant norm. "Yeah... yeah I'm fine! I'm sorry about your spar though, Hinata-chan..." He mentioned, changing the subject. "You coulda' really showed them what you can do!"

Hinata gave him a peaceable smile. "I-It's alright, Naruto-kun. There will b-be a next time." Looking down, a blush adorning her delicate features, Hinata reached into her jacket, and from it, produced a small jar. "Naruto-kun... This is for you. You can apply it to a bruise or cut; it will help ease the pain and disinf-fect it..." Lowering her head, she presented the jar to Naruto with both hands, unable to bring herself to make eye-contact, despite their history.

With a light laugh, Naruto replied in amazement, "Wow! Thanks, Hinata-chan. I remember, you had some of this stuff during training; it was awesome!" Reaching out, he eagerly retreived the jar from her extended hands, and with a powerful grin, added, "You're the best!"

At this, Hinata's blush intensified as she practically whispered her thanks...

Mingled amongst the crowd of waiting students, in a tired utterance, Iruka listed out the names of the next two 'combatants', wanting to continue. "Yamanaka Ino, and Suzuki Mariko..."

* * *

Looking down, from an elevated section of the Academy roof, his arms folded across his chest, Kakashi observed intently. He narrowed his one-visible eye in scrutiny. _'Kurenai will certainly have her hands full with that one... Team considerations aside, it's probably for the best to separate those two anyway...'_ He paused. _'...As for my team... I suppose now's a better time than any to begin the preparations. Then... we'll know where to truly begin.' _With a calculated Shunshin, he vanished in a spontaneous burst of smoke.

* * *

Inside of the classroom, standing in front of a long table with a sheet laying over-top of it, Iruka stood to address the class. All eyes were on Iruka as he scanned the classroom slowly. After a few moments of hanging suspense, he spoke, "Have any of you noticed that there are some students missing?" The class, in turn, took a moment to glance around, taking notice of the fact that there were _in fact_ classmates of theirs that were no longer there.

Iruka, having started off with a somewhat serious expression, will instantly develop a bright smile. Looking up at the class, he announced with a great air of pride, "Everyone remaining... has graduated. You are all now officially ninja of Konohagakure no Sato! Congratulations to you all!" Taking after him, the entire class began to increasingly glow with an aura of joy and pride.

Overjoyed, Naruto turnd to Hinata and (much to her surprise) wrapped her in a powerful hug shouting, at a regulated volume, "We did it, Hinata-chan! We did it!"

Hinata—_still_ not use to the close contact with her unwitting love—merely painted her features with a stunned look and a steadily heating blush, her mouth barely ajar. The only thought running through her mind was: _'N-Naruto-kun is h-hugging me!'_

Over the clamor of the still bubbling classroom, Iruka could faintly be heard explaining that they could all pick up their 'Hitai-ate', team meeting assignments and squad number at the front, with him.

Naruto eagerly leapt up, heading for the front, to grab hold of his future.

* * *

Naruto walked along the polished wooden corridor with his shiny, new hitai-ate adorning his forehead and a piece of paper in his hand. His gaze was fixed on the paper, as we walked through the halls that he knew well enough to navigate through without sight, thinking to himself. _'Hmm... Team 7... I wonder what kind of people are on this team.' _Scrunching his face up in thought for a moment, he let the possibilities pass through his mind before merely shrugging and redirecting his focus back the path he was walking, heading towards the Academy Main Roof.

Upon reaching the roof-top, the first thing Naruto's eyes caught sight of was Hinata. His happiness soared. Greeting her happily, he took off in a sprint to where she was standing, observing a log with a note tagged to it—written in a hasty scrawl.

"Hey! Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out to her.

Jumping in surprise, Hinata turned to see Naruto running towards her at top speed. "N-Naruto-kun! Are y-you on.."

"Yup!" Naruto finished for her, scratching at the back of his head, he decided to make sure this wasn't just a figment of his wild imagination. "Umm... Team 7, right?"

Hinata nodded, a huge smile growing on her face.

"That's awesome! We're on the same team, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered, jumping up in the air and clapping his feet together; he'd completely forgotten about the struggles he'd faced earlier in the day...

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata began, trying to formulate her question to be as clear as possible. "D-Do you know who else is on our t-team?" Hinata cocked her head to the side, slightly.

"Hmm..." Naruto started, rubbing his chin. "Nope! But maybe it—"

Just as Naruto was beginning to speculate, Sasuke walked up behind, but slightly between their positions and flatly asked, "What does it say."

Knowing what he meant, Naruto bent down. He squinted at the messy penmanship, carefully reciting, "'Lost... on the... path of life... Meet me... in the mor...ning, 6 AM, Training Gr...ound 7.'" Quickly turning to face both Hinata and the invader of their privacy, he incredulously quipped, "The path of life? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! What kind of Sensei are they supposed to be?!"

Hearing a slowly softening _tap_ sound, Naruto turned to notice Sasuke merely walking away, not saying a word, before leaping off the side of the building, presumably heading 'home'.

"Geez. What _is_ that guy's problem?" Naruto asked, reaching his hand back to scratch his head in exasperation.

"Well!" Naruto exclaimed. "I know what always makes me feel better! Ichiraku Ramen!" Turning to Hinata, Naruto offered, "Wanna come with me, Hinata-chan?" He watched her inquisitively.

As much as she wanted to accept, Hinata knew that she could not. "I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I would like to, but I'm expected at... home."

"O-Oh, alright, Hinata-chan. Well I'll see you tomorrow!" Looking back, Naruto added, "And, Hinata-chan... I'm really happy we're on the same team. I-I l...," he paused _'I can't say that! She'll think I'm weird or something!', _"...l-look-look forward to working... with... you?" he attempted.

Hinata stifled a giggle with a hand raised daintily before herself. Naruto's antics always brightened her spirits, even if she didn't _quite_ understand all of them. "I'm very happy as well, Naruto-kun."

* * *

**Next Time: Chapter 7 - Albatross**


	8. Albatross

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 7 - Albatross**

**A/N: Hah, I'm getting addicted to responding to these reviews. The few (but ample) amount of you that **_**do**_** review this story are certainly an interesting and, in some cases, thought-provoking bunch! To be honest, I'm shocked that Chapter 6 was so well received, as it were. I wrote it half-asleep in an all-nighter; after procrastinating for two days, I said, "Enough is enough!", and got to fervently typing away, forsaking my supposed need for sleep. Granted, I did have several of the scenes pre-prepared from an earlier point in the day, but I did 'drift' through a good portion of it... This, as you probably noticed, resulted in the assortment of typos, tense shifts and overall sloppiness. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again; the result was a whole host of ugliness. Expect your read for today to be of much higher quality! Anyway, though, not much to say overall, so let me get directly to the review-responses.**

**jascat: **Haha, you know Kakashi; he'd totally do something like that. I'm glad the Chapter title pre-release is working so well, the whole 'intrigued and anticipatory' thing is what I was going for; keep the hooked readers on their toes and put something out there to attract the newcomers.

**TheMagicManWithThePlan: **Damn, man, your pen-name is a mouthful and a half, hah. More importantly, though, I appreciate your loyalty to the story, but, pressure much?

**Helekiller2: **First, your usage of commas is fine, lol; in that particular review, it was nearly perfect, in fact. The only place where you didn't need one was between 'unknown' and 'person'. Next, I agree, it was disappointing. However, it had to be said. Finally, I fully intend to carry this story 'til the end, whether or not it becomes a 'legend' as someone had put it. I'm glad that at least one person is determined to be along for the full ride. Have a little bit of faith though, the story isn't going to suddenly plummet from what you now view as 'great', or better, to something not worth reading!

**Codaram: **Guess I'll address the business-y stuff first. The use of the gerunds, I admit, will be something that I will have to take my time whittling down to a fine medium; I don't really pay attention to the mantra-like effect that I may begin to evoke after a while, or better, I don't even notice it. To add to that, it was probably worse, or if anything, more pronounced in this chapter because of the state-of-being I was in when I wrote it. However, I primarily attribute the continued use of them to style, because I've noticed that you, among many others, _never_ use them! By the way, totally not related to my response, and since we're on the topic of gerunds and their implied clauses; this made me laugh: .upenn. edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004355. html

Next! Looking back, I do cringe a bit at my promiscuous use of ellipses. I understand what you're saying perfectly, not to say that I wasn't aware of how to best apply ellipses before, but, prior to being 'shocked' into awareness, it was simply something I'd just _done_ without giving the action a second thought. It won't happen again.

Following that... would be the stutter. I sort of (foolishly) found myself to not be committing the 'dial-back' that I'd intended. Although, a lot of the situations Hinata was placed in, in Chapter 6 _would_ warrant the stutter, it was still a bit over-powering in _some_ scenes, sorry. Haha! Now, to comment on the little thing you noticed with Sasuke... The only thing I'll say here is, for the sake of keeping you on edge, shiver on! *Evil laugh*

**From now on, the responses won't be in all bold. It's starting to hurt my eyes.**

Now that all of that has been addressed, please enjoy Chapter 7.

* * *

_Everything was white. At least, that was the way it appeared to him. There was no beginning or end to the hazy expanse; there as no left, or right; there was no up, or down; there was no near, or far: there was only the barely visible sidewalk that he walked along._

_There was no sound in this place. What was this place? He certainly could _feel_ the weight of his body, falling in time with his even, continuous steps; and, were he to look down, he could certainly make out, albeit barely, the rounded, rectangular shapes that were his sandals... were they his sandals? What he could not sense, though, was the _sound_ associated with the action he could, by all means, reasonably assume he was performing. There was no sound in this place._

_His mind still lingered on the question of where he was, though he knew it to be a vain effort, he still wondered; after all, what else was there to do? What he thought to be his body still marched on, left, right, left, right; it walked, stepping with one foot at a time, with each step unnaturally identical to its predecessor. The foot would rise, and the foot would fall. It started with the heel of the foot, each time, gradually rolling forward until it lay flat against the sidewalk. He reasoned, now, that it was meaningless to dwell on this._

_As he continued, he began to realize that there was more to this place than he'd initially understood. He registered color; a tree stood to his right, quivering with the gentle breeze. He registered movement; a squirrel ran across the ground—soundless—in apparent search of a stray nut... More importantly, though, he registered a hand, fingers intertwined with what he was slowly coming to accept as his own. It was a soft hand, a smooth hand. It was a hand that he could get used to feeling. It was also, a familiar hand._

_They still walked on, he was certain at this point, it was_ they_. He was beginning to enjoy this silence. Characteristically it did not suit him, but, he was beginning to enjoy it nonetheless. He knew it wasn't him; but, he also knew that it was something he could get used to. He did like this. _

_Just as he was becoming submerged in the pleasant ambiance of the walk, he felt the familiar, soft hand tug at his, leading him in a new direction. The shift was inconsequential, he was enjoying himself. What a nice calm. Despite not being able to see through the mist coating his surroundings, he could still inhale the bright energy; he breathed it in through every pore, welcoming the immersion._

_He felt the body turn to face the person at his left, he was now explicitly aware that he had no control over the body. Upon turning, he was met with a familiar sight... but... it was hazy. Looking through the eyes of this body, his consciousness just beneath the surface, he recognized that this person had to be someone... someone. Wait. They were now holding his other hand, with as dainty a grasp as ever. They were talking...—_he_ was talking. What was being said, though? For the first time since arriving, he resented the lack of sound._

_He felt himself leaning forward, moving forward. Now, he had a clearer view of the person before him... it was a girl, it was... Hinata? His subconscious came zooming to the forefront, he was aware now. 'Hinata? Wh-What... what's going on?' Still, he was unable to speak._

_She was moving forward as well, eager to meet his piqued lips. He attempted to will his arms to move, to stop, to communicate; they remained unresponsive, however. He wanted to retreat, to snap Hinata out of it, to snap _himself_ out of it. The closer he found himself to her, though, the less he wanted to resist. Maybe... maybe it was okay... He let his eyes close. His lips brushed against hers in a chaste embrace, both complying to the faint pressure being exerted on each person's behalf._

_As he was beginning to enjoy the new sensation, he felt a gentle pull at his shoulder. He ignored it; he did not want to stop, and apparently, neither did she; they were both happy. The pull came again, more aggressive. He shrugged it off again. 'I don't want this to end...'_

_Bringing his hand up, he brought it to rest on her shoulder, attempting to further the voiceless communication. _

_When the pull returned, it returned with malice. Retching him away from the simple embrace, he felt a multitude of hands grabbing him—forcefully—dragging him away, gripping his ribs, arms; the _hands_ gripped anything they could reach. 'No!' Harder, came the pull. 'No! Please!' Harder still, came the pull. He could not hold on anymore, he snapped his eyes open, looking to Hinata for some sort of aid. What he found, however, was something that stabbed at his heart, and pulled at his body, harder than he perceived any physical force to be capable of. He'd drifted away, far away, and from where he was, he could only barely make out Hinata... A shadowy silouhette of a man approached her, reaching down to take her hand; though she had appeared distressed, sullen even, her mood brightened at the new figure. They could not see him anymore, as he was still rapidly being dragged away, but he could see them. Through the haze, he could see them. 'NO!'_

_'Hinata!'_

_'Let me go!' He struggled against the hands restraining him, only serving to make them intensify their unbreakable hold. They pulled faster, harder._

_'LET ME GO! NO!' They pulled harder. Hinata and the mysterious shadow were merely dots in his vision now._

_'NO!'_

_Without warning, he was swallowed by a consuming blackness._

_Silence._

Naruto awoke with a violent start, nearly catapulting himself out of his small bed. His breathing was heavy and his entire body was shaking. He had a steady stream of sweat rolling off of his now uncovered body; he clearly recalled, at the back of his mind, having fully dressed himself before retiring the night before.

With a shaky wheeze of a breath, Naruto brought the hand that wasn't supporting his trembling form to his head, to grip it. "Wh-What the hell... was that."

"I..." He shook his head, there was no point in it now_—_he needed to replenish the water he was loosing. After all, he still needed to be ready for his first day.

He rolled to the right, falling off of his bed, and caught himself in an uneven stumble. Looking to the stand by his bed, he caught sight of his Hitai-ate; in the moonlit reflection, dull blue eyes stared back at him, mocking him—they were not his eyes. With an annoyed scoff, he turned and carelessly dropped his hand to the stand, feeling around until he reached the cold metal of the headband. He tightened his grip around the object and weakly moved himself out of the bedroom, not wanting to look back at the bed that, through the night, had become drenched with sweat.

It was clear what he wanted: To finally escape the haunting mind-scape of that dream.

* * *

It had happened again, and _it _was not something that Hinata enjoyed. As she walked down the apathetic hallways of the Hyūga Compound, Hinata lamented. It was not like her to sulk, but this was a special case... this was something that demanded emotional reaction! Hinata, had, had another dream about Naruto.

Contrary to what one would assume, Hinata did not enjoy these dreams. Sure, she did indulge in them and graciously partake in their splendor whilst trapped within them; but, after the fact, she was not happy in the least. They were _lies_.

At one point in her life, Hinata had welcomed the beginnings and ends of these dreams. While they did always build her hopes up, that was all they really were at the time: abstract hopes. Now, though, Hinata knew just how great it was to be with Naruto... even as a mere friend—best friend, mind you; but this was not enough, her feelings for Naruto grew every day and she did not appreciate the constant reminder, _courtesy_ of her own subconscious, that Naruto was not interested in her.

Of course, she was happy to be with Naruto in any way that she could, and she knew that she should actually be thankful for these dreams. But alas, it was difficult; the dreams depicted a world so bright and wonderful, while in actuality, she lived in a world that was unfortunately contrasted in so many ways. In these dreams, she had pleasant relations with the entirety of her family, her mother was still around, her life as a ninja went smoothly, and Naruto returned her affection with every fiber of his being... This was not the reality that she woke up to, though.

_'I have to be happy with what I have... and try my best. It's what Naruto-kun would do... It's what Mother would do.' _She nodded to herself, assuredly. This was the resolve that she instilled within herself daily. _'Besides, today is my first day as a ninja! I c-can't let my team down. Especially Naruto-kun.'_

Hinata had finally reached her destination. Hesitantly reaching out, she took a breath to calm herself before placing her hand against the metal siding of the shoji screen and sliding aside.

The first thing that caught Hinata's eye when she entered the tatami-floored room was her father, Hyūga Hiashi, sitting stoically cross-legged at the low table. His eyes were purposefully held closed as he rigidly sipped his tea from a ceramic cup. She was hoping not to be noticed, just this once.

Her hopes failed her, though. "Hinata."

She turned to face him, albeit meekly, with her eyes studying the floor. "G-Good morning... Otō-sama."

"Why are you up so early?" he inquired forcefully. "You do not have training, " he paused for a moment, before adding with spite, "you are not worthy of it."

With her head still held in a bow, she replied, "I... I k-know, Otō-sama. I was j-ju—"

Before she could finish her explanation, he interjected, "Never mind. It is of no consequence. Since you are awake, go tend to your sister; we'll require assistance during her training for this morning." Still refusing to open his eyes and risk _seeing_ her, he waved his hand dismissively. "Go."

"No..." Hinata started, only to be curtly interrupted.

Hiashi slammed his cup, in an oddly graceful motion, against the table. "What!?"

"I-I have responsibilities to my t-team, Otō-sama," Hinata finished in a quick breath.

It started as a light chuckle, a mocking chuckle. It evolved into a heartless choke of a laugh. With a disgusted leer, Hiashi opened his eyes to look upon the _annoyance_ before him, searching for any sign of a lie. He found, however, only the tell-tale gleam of the headband that Hinata had wreathed around her neck. "I am genuinely surprised that you've become a Genin."

Hinata remained silent, still observing the ground. This was _definitely_ not the reality of her dreams; the one that, at the moment, she desperately longed for.

"You will represent the Hyūga properly. Am I understood?" Hiashi said.

"Y-Yes, Otō-sama," she replied, deepening the bow.

"... Do not become a burden to your team, Hinata," he stated, burning holes in her with his hollow eyes. "As you have become to me."

She gulped, forcing back the lump in her throat as she fought against the burning ache that seemed to insistently push against the backs of her eyes; she could not show _weakness_, not now. "Y-Yes."

* * *

The twilight of the morning bathed Training Ground 7 in a diffused light, providing just enough to alert the conscientious creatures of the forest that daybreak was upon them. The world was slowly and groggily waking up, but for some people, the day had already begun. And as for one person in particular, they were ahead of the curve, grudgingly waiting for the world to catch up.

Sasuke had been awake for several hours now, as he'd found himself unable to sleep. He stared at the grass directly below himself, saying nothing and thinking nothing. He simply waited.

Emerging from the forest, an exhausted Naruto trudged through the field, towards its center. No one had told him so, but he knew that the training posts would be the most logical spot to meet at—they had to be. Even with his Hitai-ate securely fastened around his head, his favorite orange jumpsuit on, and his kunai-holster neatly bound to his thigh, it was still overtly clear that he lacked his usual vivacity; there was no sound in his eyes or _kick_ in his step; he merely walked.

As he continued his slow approach, he lifted his head, hoping to find himself to be the first to arrive. Disappointedly, he noticed Sasuke, quietly leaning against the far-left post. _'Great,'_ he thought with a mental groan, _'just what I need right now...'_

With a sigh, he dragged himself the rest of the way to the posts, keeping his eye on Sasuke as he went. Sasuke seemingly didn't pay him any mind, though, as he merely held his gaze on the ground, silent. Naruto, upon reaching the post opposite Sasuke, turned and promptly fell against it, letting himself slide down into a lazy seated position. Right as Naruto sat, however, Sasuke let out the simplest of remarks: "Hn."

"What!" exclaimed Naruto, a little louder than he'd intended.

Sasuke now turned to him, regarding him with a plain smirk. "Nothing. I'm just surprised that you showed up."

"Why wouldn't I?! I'm on this team, just the same as you!" Naruto retorted.

"I don't know. Maybe by some miracle, you'd realize that you aren't worthy of being on this _team_," the Uchiha smugly spat back.

"What?! What's your problem, Sasuke!" Naruto sprung to his feet, quickly stepping to meet the Uchiha.

"You," he plainly responded.

"Ahh! I've had it with you, you smug bastard!" Naruto snarled, pressing his face right into Sasuke's. "You and me. Re-match. Let's go!"

Sasuke scoffed. In a swift motion he secured a hand around Naruto's collar, gripping it firmly, and raised him to eye-level. "Fine," he said, sneering at the blond.

Just as Naruto was about to reach his boiling point, a soft call interrupted them both. "Good morning... Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san."

Both young ninja turned to the sound of the voice to discover Hinata, eyeing Sasuke with discontent. "Sasuke-san, what are you doing to Naruto-kun?"

With a self-indulgent grin, Sasuke smoothly replied, "Good morning, Hinata," before unceremoniously tossing Naruto to the side, along with her question. Closing his eyes, pleased with himself, he lowered himself into a cross-legged position to passively continue to wait on their now-late sensei.

Naruto landed flatly on his backside, glaring daggers at the aloof Sasuke. A stroke of worry flashed across Hinata's face. Seeking to diffuse the situation, Hinata approached Naruto and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

He only gave a grumble in response, with arms defiantly folded, he resolutely kept his eyes on Sasuke, as if hoping to suddenly develop heat-vision. He waited for a moment, in silence, hoping to win the battle of attrition...

In a moment of weakness, he allowed himself a glance at Hinata, only to find her gentle eyes sending him a look that caressed him in warm concern. He sighed, his front deflated; Hinata always had a way of calming him... just like... no, he couldn't let himself think about that now.

"Yeah... I'm fine, Hinata-chan. Thanks," he spoke genuinely.

Hinata's features smoothed over in a smile, her characteristic blush returning. "N-No problem, Naruto-kun."

As if to offset the calm that had fallen over the trio, an ostentatious plume of smoke burst forth in front of them, drawing all of their attention. Yet, despite their vision being obscured to near non-existence, they all strained to see through the thick cloud, billowing all around them.

_'Let's see who they've sent us...'_

_'Alright, they're finally here!'_

_'Our Sensei...'_

The smoke still wafted and rolled about, taking its sweet time in clearing. And, with each passing second, each of the three ninja bubbled with their own unique brand of anticipation.

_'Come on...'_

_'Come on!'_

_'Who... who is it?'_

Upon the smoke finally clearing, in unusual unison, the looks plastered on their faces took a stark leap into utter shock. Before them stood what appeared to be an aged man, coughing on the aftermath of his own theatrics. The man wore a massively over-sized straw hat, which cast a convenient shadow over the better part of his face. The rest of him was simply wrapped in a raggedy brown cloak, and below that, only simple, standard-grade ninja sandals were visible.

Finished with his coughing, the man looked up, slightly, his head tilted to one side to better conceal the remainder of his face; all that sat visible, was his right eye, which was now creased into an indicator of a pleasant smile. "Yo," came his simple greeting.

Hinata and Naruto both struggled to muster a response, a reply, anything! They were stunned, their mouths agape; was this their _sensei_?

Before either of them could recover, Sasuke's pride was able to shock him back into reality. "YOU!" he shouted, instantly leaping to his feet, prepared to charge.

The man barely turned his head, catching the irate Uchiha out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, Uchiha-kun. Hello there," he happily offered.

"Uchiha-_kun_?! Have some respect old man!" Sasuke demanded fervently.

At this point, Naruto and Hinata found themselves merely turning their head between the two. "D-Do you think they know each other, Hinata?" Naruto inquired, eyes still wide.

"I-I'm not su-sure, Naruto-kun..." she replied.

"Of course I respect you, Uchiha-kun. You were just so cute, I've grown something of a soft spot for you... and have come to think of you as my own grandchild."

Naruto couldn't help but break out in a choked explosion of laughter. "Ha! He c-called Sasuke, c-_cute_!"

Sasuke snapped his head towards the offending cry. "Shut up, Uzumaki!"

His eye still twitching at the unignorable seizures of snickering emanating from Naruto, Sasuke turned back to the man and snarled, "And, I would die before admitting any relation to you!"

"Oh, come now. I thought you would have gotten over that little spat by now," he spoke with a false scolding tone, before turning to face the trio as a group. "I apologize for not introducing myself, my name is Tatane Ishika..."

Summoning her courage, Hinata spoke up, "T-Tatane-san, you're our sensei, right?"

He raised his sole visible eyebrow in question. "Sensei? Oh, no no no, you have the wrong idea, child. I'm simply passing by, and greeting you fine folks. I'm a drifter... or, as the kids call it nowadays, a 'Nuke-nin'," he spoke, bending his fingers to form pseudo-quotation marks as he spoke the term.

With a thoughtful sigh, he continued, "I've been watching you three for some time now, you're quite the interesting bunch. Not once, in my travels, have I see children so unique," turning to face Sasuke exclusively, he added, "I apologize for not being more forthcoming with you, Uchiha-kun."

Sasuke intensified his perpetual glare. "You should have stuck around the first time, we didn't get to complete our _spar_."

Ignoring Sasuke, Ishika returned his gaze to the group. "Now, you children don't plan to tell on me do you? There were a couple of _errands_ that I'd hoped to take care of before being on my way."

Naruto met Ishika's gaze with a questioningly blank stare. "Errands? Like what?"

Ishika shrugged. "Oh... nothing too important. Just a couple of routine little chores: picking up some supplies, meeting with a contact or two, assassinating your Hokage..." He rolled his hand at the wrist in a 'this and that' gesture.

Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth falling in disbelief. "WHAT?!"

Hinata let out a gasp of horrified shock, bringing her hand before herself in a fear that only increased at the calmness of the man standing before her.

Naruto refused to give up; grabbing the side of the training post, he hoisted himself into a standing position to better his position against the potential opposition. "Heh," Naruto started, "our real sensei will be here soon. We won't let you do that!"

With a heavy breath, Hinata steeled herself and rose next to Naruto, settling into a hesitant fighting stance. She nodded in agreement with Naruto's statement. "As n-ninja of Konoha, we can not let you do that!"

Ishika's visible eye closed. "Oh," he started, before recapturing them in his sight with a gaze of steel. "In that case, I'll just have to eradicate you three," he commented with a suddenly grave voice. Raising his hand, palm open, in a gesture of reason, he added, "You understand, right?"

"Besides," he continued, "you three don't _actually_ believe you can stop me, do you? You're not a real team. You're a disorderly, inexperienced and untrained group of brats." Ishika offered them a hard stare, his demeanor had shifted drastically in a manor of seconds.

Her fear aside, Hinata noticed something _unusual_ in the way the man spoke. Despite not having any genuine experience in this type of situation, she couldn't shake the feeling that Ishika's actions seemed to be... contrived. She couldn't place her finger on it, however, and she didn't have time to either, before Sasuke quickly snatched the bait, as if his life depended on it.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, clenching his face in anger. "Good," he spoke, menacingly, "now I don't have to hold back!" Turning his head over his shoulder as he charged, in the slightest of gestures, Sasuke tossed back at his still stationary teammates, "Stay out of my way, he's mine!"

Sasuke flew at Ishika, unleashing a controlled burst of constantly varying jabs. Ishika, however, was unfazed by Sasuke's display, as he simply stepped back every now and then to avoid having his toes stepped on while he idly deflected Sasuke's fists with his left hand. Shifting his body to the right in an effort to face Naruto and Hinata properly, he commented, "In the interest of sport, I'll give you guys a little head start."

Naruto frantically turned to Hinata, pointing towards the nearby forest as he urged her, "Come on, Hinata! We've gotta get out of here!" Without waiting for a reply, Naruto began to run. "Come on!"

"Naruto-kun!" she called after him. Hinata was torn between keeping the team together in the face of imminent danger, or being decidedly logical and following Naruto.

Hinata turned to face Sasuke, as she hoped to discover him to be heeding Ishika's advice. Unfortunately, this was not the case, Sasuke was still fighting... a Genjutsu? Hinata blinked twice, making sure that she was still seeing clearly; to her dismay, she was: _Where was Ishika?_ In a rushed panic, she spun her head back in the direction Naruto had ran in, twisting herself every which way in hopes of discovering she was not alone. Despite finding nothing, however, she refused to accept that she was simply _alone_; with a hushed whisper, she activated her Kekkei Genkai and began her search.

Hinata looked high and low, letting her Kekkei Genkai act as a panoramic periscope. She scouted out the entirety of her surroundings, even going so far as to extend her vision to its bare limits, stretching it into the forest. The forest held the usual, small, insignificant chakra signatures of its native inhabitants; she _heard_ leaves crunch, twigs snap, rocks turn and birds eerily chirp, but there was no sign of human life. Her eyes widened. In her haste, Hinata had not even realized that she had become truly alone, Sasuke had simply disappeared; she could not very well observe her own chakra network, were her vision to be distorted by a Genjutsu, so, she had to assume the worst. She readied herself, tensing her arms into a rigid fighting stance.

"_W-Where are you,_" she inquired in a whisper, still scanning the surrounding area. Nothing.

Just as she was beginning to feel confident, she felt a chill behind her—there was no wind, however. There was no way she'd actually have _missed_ it if someone were behind her—she could _still_ see behind her! Her fears were realized however, as she felt the warm dusting of a breath run over hear ear. In a daunting whisper, the originator of the breath answered her question, "_Behind you._"

Spinning around on her supporting foot, she nearly fell backwards as she came face to face with Ishika. Startled fear consumed her as she forced herself to move. _'Move... Move!'_ She sprung back with her remaining foot, averting the fall as she began to back-pedal, she brought her hands before her to fend off her potential attacker. Ishika stalked towards her at a measured pace—he wasn't in any hurry. Hinata knew that she was in trouble, the man before her, unlike herself, was not an amateur; he had years of experience on him, years of killing. It was now or never, she had to somehow delay him enough for her to gain the upperhand.

Hinata charged at the slowly moving Ishika, arm cocked back near her face, she held a chakra laced palm up, poised to strike. Reaching Ishika, she used her prepared strike to feint before swiveling and bringing two fingers up in a back-handed strike at the tenketsu on Ishika's elbow, seeking to disable it. The strike connected; she felt the chakra shoot from the points in her fingers, in a needle, into Ishika's system. She _saw _it. Ishika, however, remained unfazed, as he observed her still in the remnant stance, eyeing him in disbelief. "That's it?" he wondered. Seeing her stare continue, he merely shook his head. "Tsk, that's disappointing, Hyūga-san," he spoke. In rapid change in posture, he lifted his 'injured' arm and grabbed her shoulder. He ducked below, in a crouch and swept her legs from under her, before tightening his grip on her shoulder and thrusting his arm forward, launching her into a skidding tumble.

Hinata winced in pain. _'Th-That's impossible, how could he not be affected by that,'_ she denied what she saw as she strained her Byakugan. The proof was evident, however, her move had, had no effect whatsoever on Ishika, and he was still steadily advancing. She had to get away. With the best hardened look of determination she could muster, she braced herself. _'I have to regroup. I have to find Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san...'_

Leaping into action, Hinata rolled backwards from her felled position and popped up. Decisively turning, she took off at break-neck speed towards the cover of the forest, not daring to take even the slightest glance back.

Ishika trailed at a bored saunter, not watching anything, or anyone. As he walked, he slowly began to fade into a thick smoke, his features twisted and distorted as all of the colors began to blend into a consistent, earthy hue; he continuously dissipated, not bothering to end his patterned stepping, until his entire form was unravelled, and the remaining whisps faded into the noon air, with a gentle breeze accompanying them...

Naruto was flying through the forest, he leapt to the nearest tree and promptly lifted off once more, sending supplementary chakra to his legs to aid the propulsion. As he reached the next tree, he stopped with a pronounced _clack_. Naruto let his arms hang at his sides, looking up, he let out a sigh before turning his vision back in the direction he'd come from. "Argh! I can't just leave Hinata-chan..." he chided himself, "and I can't abandon the team! What would they do without me, after all?" he finished with a gentle snicker, that fell into a grim scoff. _'Please be alright...'_

Several moments later, Naruto found himself on the edge of the forest. Pausing as he held himself up against a tree, Naruto took a deep breath. _'Here we go!'_ with that thought, he leapt forward, hurling himself into the grassy plane. Upon clearing his head and taking a cursory survey of the land, searching for Hinata, he was shocked to be met with nothing. "Hinata...! Sasuke...!" he shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth. _'Where are they?'_ he impatiently wondered.

A wild yell ripped him from his prior focus, however, "ISHIKA!" He quickly spun to see a livid Sasuke running at him in a mad-dash, his hand brought to his mouth in a seal that Naruto recognized all too well... _'Shit!'_

"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto said, haphazardly turning about and leaping away as fast as his lopsided bounds would carry him.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū**" Sasuke shouted, before launching a steady burst of 3 massive bullets of ignited chakra from his mouth. "Ishika, I'm going to kill you!" he warned, Sharingan ablaze.

Naruto turned in mid-air to face fiery onslaught. Bringing the pointer and middle fingers of each hand together in a uniquely cross-shaped seal, Naruto intoned, "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**", and, out of the resulting cloud of smoke, 4 similarly angled Naruto's popped into existence. "Guys throw me up!"

With an affirmative nod, each clone grabbed their neighbor's ankle, effectively forming a chain as they swung their leader, releasing him at the height of their arc into the air, before being met with the oncoming explosion of fire, which, in turn, dispelled the lot of them.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called from his ascended height, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Sasuke looked up to catch Naruto in his crimson gaze. "Ishika..." he breathed out, stressing each syllable with murderous intent evidently percolating from his every pore.

_'Damn,' _Naruto sighed, _'he's finally gone crazy...er.'_ He shook his head to dismiss his slow train of thought. _'Whatever, I need to find Hinata-chan, that Ishika psycho obviously isn't here.'_

Naruto fell with a well executed somersault. As he came to a firm landing, his hands touched the ground as bracing for his crouched position, and, with one last look towards the still fuming Sasuke, Naruto turned and ran toward the opposite bordering forest, hoping to have better luck there...

With Naruto's departure, Sasuke fell in a heap to the ground, gasping for air. "What the hell... it... it was like I couldn't even control my own... body," he spoke, lifting one of his supporting hands to eye-level, checking his vision; upon finding that he could only see a blur, he deactivated his Sharingan in a winced blink, "and... I'm almost out of... chakra." He closed his eyes, falling forward on both hands for support, once again, still trying to remaster his breathing. "I still have to find that... bastard, though. And... those two."

He shakily pushed himself to his feet, still sightly disoriented, stumbling. With a final deep breath, he took off in the direction opposite of that in which Naruto had...

In the thick, middle of the forest stood Hinata, still looking around desperately with her strained Byakugan. After nearly three hours of searching, she'd yet to find anyone, even her thought-to-be pursuer... She reached a tree, and leaned against it for support, immediately accepting the rare opportunity to rest, as it came. Out of her magnified periphery, just as she was about to settle, she caught the edge of a sealing-tag from beneath her hand; taking the daring step of peering through the flesh and bone that made up her hand, her eyes widened in alarm at reading the seal's identifying character '毒' **(Doku)**. _'Oh no!' _she thought in a hurry. Bringing one hand up to shield her mouth and nose, she took a deep breath before channeling a magnificent surge of chakra through the seal, in an attempt to overload it. _'I've already activated it... please work.' _

From somewhere deep in the forest, a massive explosion rattled the trees to their very foundations, resulting in a great out-pouring of multi-colored smoke.

"No!" came a shout. Emanating from somewhere nearby the epicenter...

* * *

The sun cast a pale, orange glow over the desolate training field, leaving nothing out of it's warming light. But despite the warmth the receding sunlight offered, the usual chipper atmosphere of the field was replaced with a cold silence indicative of the night. Tonight, was especially cold, though; the tension hung in the air, the mood it set leaving a pungent aroma of dread in its wake—the _hunt_ was still on.

In the forest, three ninja evaded a pursuer that they knew was there, but they refused to believe was near them. The pursuer hadn't shown themself for hours, only appearing in phantom traces or letting their voice carry on the chilling, Janurary wind to further promote this sick game of cat-and-mouse. It was mind-numbing: the worry, the dread, the separation, the hunger... They had gotten used to it. But, everything must come to an end at some point.

Sleeking through the shadows that the trees provided at this time of day, the young Uchiha Sasuke maneuvered his way around several barbs that he'd found _conveniently_ placed in this part of the forest. He darted from cover to cover, still searching. He refused to be the prey in this game; despite his worry, he _would_ be the hunter.

In a more open, empty section of the forest, not far from the Uchiha, a blond haired Ninja flew from tree to tree, trying to avoid the meticulously crafted boobie-traps that lay at every twist and turn of this labyrinth of a forest. He paused, looking up at the sky for guidance. It was clear now, and he could see the stars quite visibly; he wasn't as pleased as one may think, though. "_Damn_," he whispered to himself, darting his eyes to and fro as he spoke, "_I swear I just passed this clearing...' _His stomach let out a low rumble that grew in crescendo to his hunger, clouding his thoughts. Bringing a finger up to his mouth, he scolded his digestive system, "Shh!" he hissed, "_... Who am I kidding, I'm hungry too._" He turned his gaze to the darkening maw of the tree-cover. "I have to keep going though."

In another adjacent quadrant of the enigmatic forest that was the surrounding landscape of Training Ground 7, a pair of lustrous lavender-tinted orbs could be seen peering out from a meager cover of shrubbery, glinting against the sharp sun-rays. Hyūga Hinata was waiting, her Byakugan, since becoming an aching disservice, had since been deactivated. Her plan of action was simple: Locate her team. She knew at this point that escape without Naruto or Sasuke was futile, and something she did not want to do, just as well. Determination set in on her face as she tightened her calf and thigh muscles, preparing to make the grand leap from her current perch to the feeble branch of an unhealthy tree. It was a risk she had to take.

The ninja leapt, making their way to their unknown destinations. Rapidly. _Tack_. Swiftly. _Swoosh_. Steadily. _Fsh_.

They ran. _'Closer. I'm getting closer.'_

They ducked, avoiding the occasional unexpected projectile. _'Come on...'_

The flew, gliding across disarrayed surfaces. _'There!'_

Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke all simultaneously burst from their respective covers, intending to traverse the clearing unseen. This was not what happened.

Rushing into each other at unstoppable speeds, they all let loose chaste blows, expecting the worse. Their fists collided, as they deflected each other's last-ditch defense efforts; all of them ultimately bounced back, forming an odd triangle.

Regaining their wherewithal, they glanced to the left, and to the right. What, or rather, _who_ met their eyes came as a shock to all of them, though.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped, overjoyed to see her... crush.

Sasuke merely grimaced, they were not who he'd been _hoping_ to find. Although, they weren't a bad second option.

Naruto couldn't respond to Hinata, as he was still doubled over in pain from the blow that Sasuke had dealt him. "Agh, S-Sasuke!" he yelled, "What was that all about?! First you try to burn me alive, then you knee me in the stomach! That was supposed to be a warning shot!"

Sasuke regarded him plainly for a moment, before deciding to spare the Uzumaki a simple answer. With a grin, he admitted, "You were't who I was expecting."

"Then explain the fireballs! You were calling me Ishika and trying to kill me!" Naruto retorted vehemently.

"N-Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san..." Hinata attempted to interject.

"Well, Sasuke?!"

"Hn," muttered the Uchiha, turning away. He was clearly not interested in _conversation_ of all things.

"Argh! There you go again with that grunt, give me a straight answer!"

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata tried once more, raising her voice slightly.

Just barely hearing Hinata, Naruto turned to her, curious. "Yeah, Hinata-chan?"

Before responding, Hinata glanced at Sasuke, requesting his attention, "Sasuke-san, we all need to speak... If we don't o-organize ourselves, we'll never get out of here."

Sasuke opened one eye, not willing to give up more than a fraction of his attention. "What do you suggest, Hinata?"

Naruto now eyed Hinata as well, curious as to what she had in mind.

"I-It's just that I've noticed something... from the very beginning even," she began. Naruto and Sasuke both turned their heads, with more of a determined interest. Looking up, she continued, "h-have you noticed that from the beginning, our foe has made no mention of our sensei?"

"O-Or that the forest seems to be constantly changing..." Hinata spoke, before turning to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, we've trained here before, you recognize it t-too, don't you?"

Naruto wore a knowing look. With a nod he added, "Yeah... I've noticed that something about this entire place seems off. And..." turning to Sasuke, he continued, "you thought I was Ishika, right?"

He shot the blond a glare, but, under the simple, honest gaze he received, he decided that pettiness was pointless at this stage of the game, "Yeah. I did."

Hinata interjected, "And, I-I noticed that, after myself and Naruto-kun were given that warning... everything seemed to fade away."

Naruto slapped a fist against his open palm. "That's it!" he exclaimed, "We somehow... see everything differently from each other! That's gotta be why we haven't been able to find each other for like, hours!"

Sasuke chimed in, in mildly surprised realization, "Then... could it be that we're trapped in a collective Genjutsu?"

Hinata shook her head. "There's no w-way a Genjutsu could be that p-powerful..." she paused, still in disbelief, "c-could there?"

Sasuke's features gravely hardened. "Yes there is." Lifting his head, he revealed his immature Sharingan; regardless of it's stature, it communicated the point effectively.

"Doesn't matter!" Naruto exclaimed, flashing Hinata and Sasuke a confident, toothy grin. "We'll get out of here, and get that guy. We just have to stay together."

Hinata smiled. "O-Of course, Naruto-kun." turning to Sasuke, she continued, "Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke stared at them both, contemplating his options; he knew though, he knew what his decision was before he'd even been asked to reveal it. Sighing, he conceded, concealing his hands within his pockets, "Fine."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He stuck his hand out, expecting the others to place theirs atop his. "Let's go, Team Naruto!"

Sasuke pierced him with a steady stare, while Hinata, in not-so-distant contrast, eyed him with a look that screamed 'please be reasonable...'

Grumbling, Naruto digressed. "Fine, fine, Team _7_," he muttered, with an exaggerated pout.

Hinata let out a mellifluous giggle before placing her hand atop Naruto's. Sasuke—albeit grudgingly—stepped forward and placed his hand atop the small pile, in suit.

_Click._ The sound rang out in the backs of each of their minds, bouncing around their thoughts with a hollow resonance.

Their vision faded to blackness.

* * *

The first sight that greeted their eyes upon their awakening was surely an odd one... Before the three ninja: Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, stood a tall scarecrow-esque figure with a lopsided spur of gravity defying silver hair, wearing a crooked Konoha Hitai-ate and a Jōnin flak-jacket. The man had only one eye visible, and that eye was glued to what could only be assumed to be the pages of a... colorful reading selection.

He noticed their awakening.

"Yo," he greeted, raising the one hand that had been occupied with cuffing the seam of his pocket, in a sloppy salute.

The young ninja, who'd just started to become aware of their surroundings, had since repurposed themselves to divining just who this person was.

Sasuke, though, was a bit quicker to recover. Jumping up all at once, from his slouched-seat against the (familiar) training post, the Uchiha demanded, "Where is he?!"

"Hm? Who?" The man inquired, feigning genuine curiosity.

Sasuke was not having any flak, not now. "You know who! You must have seen him, he knocked us out. Did you bring us here?!" he asked in a fervent whirlwind.

Letting his vision pan over the bunch before him, the man paused a moment before speaking, "My name, is Hatake Kakashi," he introduced himself, "I am your Jōnin instructor."

Hinata had finally regained the capacity to speak. "K-Kakashi-sensei," she began, "what exactly happened? There was a man attacking us, we were fleeing and attempting to evade him for hours..."

"Ooh? As you can see though, none of that really happened," Kakashi responded, simply, raising his eyebrow. Looking around to illustrate his point, he continued, "as you can see, it's still daylight. Around nine in the morning, in fact." He creased his brow, redefining his features; he was eager to see how she would respond.

It was then, that it clicked in her mind. "Kakashi-sensei..." Hinata started, "your voice... it's the same as the man that was chasing us."

_'Impressive,'_ he thought, looking towards the other two for confirmation, _'and it seems as though they're realizing it too. I was right about them.'_ Kakashi snapped his book shut, disrupting the silence, before he slunk it back within his vest. With one, gloved hand, he balled his fist at the proper location along his mask and cleared his throat.

Finally, with a deep inhale... he let out a dramatic, side-splitting laugh. "Ah! You've got it, Hinata," he rejoiced. "Indeed," he began again, "the majority of what you experienced today was in fact not real... it was the result of a dormant Genjutsu trigger that I placed within all of you at the beginning of our day together."

"H-How d-di_—_," Naruto sputtered, not able to comprehend how the man before him was able to do something so... amazing.

"It was simple, Naruto," he responded, raising one finger above himself in a lecturing posture. He spoke to the group, again, "You guys remember that giant cloud of smoke when 'Ishika' appeared, right?"

The group nodded, observing him with wonder.

"That was the beginning of the technique... But," he paused, "_that_ was not what I wanted to discuss with you."

He brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, searching for the right words. "I was incredibly impressed with how you handled yourselves today... but there is something important that I'd like to impart to all of you..."

They leaned in, listening expectantly.

"Though you all learned it, and your demonstration can attest to that fact, you need to understand that teamwork is the entire idea behind being placed on a squad."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly silenced as Kakashi raised his hand.

"You need to understand, while you all are talented as you are, each of you will become a burden to yourselves and to each other if you cannot learn to work as a collective whole. Differences are what make a team strong—diversity. However, these differences, if you cannot learn to accept, appreciate, and work around them, can also be your downfall," he spoke, holding them all in his firm, yet lazy gaze.

"As a team, you're expected to resourcefully work about each other's differences in hopes of making the unit stronger; and, in turn, making each other stronger. Your strength will only be a hindrance to you if it blinds you." Kakashi paused for a moment, letting the message sink in. He watched the expressions on their faces shift through a myriad of emotions, however, they all ultimately settled on a peaceful smile; each smile, nonetheless, was reflective of their own nature, but they were all smiles.

Kakashi creased his own features into a pleased smile. "Well, with that, I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves today!"

Each student's face belied their true emotions, none wanted to admit that the mere prospect of _enjoying_ that experience was terrifying.

He turned, promptly and began to stride away as he withdrew his book once again. He paused for a moment, calling over his shoulder, "Oh, and welcome to the life of a ninja! The missions begin tomorrow." He resumed his stride, whistling a merry tune.

In his wake, each of the three newly-minted ninja had sunk into their own state of shock, their trained-faces were no longer able to hide the worried glances of apprehension that they exchanged.

* * *

**Next Time: Chapter 8 - "D Rank"**


	9. D Rank

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 8 - "D Rank"**

**A/N: Well hello again, readers. First, I guess I'm glad that the majority of you seemed to really like what I did with the little 'initiation'. However, I'm sad that not that many of you even seemed to care that I brought good ol' Ishika back—I thought you'd all be excited! Whatever though, *shrug*, I guess you win some and lose some. Another thing I noticed was that the 'dream' seemed to go right over all of your heads. That's unfortunate, but hopefully it'll all become clear in the future for those of you who didn't understand it, and, later, you can go back and have that "Ohhhhh!" moment. **

**Now, for all of you new readers and various passersby, I'd highly appreciate it if you left your opinion (review); I'm curious to see what other demographics have to say (assuming a range of you even read this story). Follow **firetemplar415's **fine example, and tell me what you think! Well, that aside, there isn't too much to say this time around. So, please enjoy Chapter 8.**

**Note: I must apologize for two things. Firstly, I'm sorry that this is so late; what has it been, ten days? And, secondly, I have to apologize that this chapter isn't really anything that would justify the long wait; it's just a regular old chapter, no, actually, it's not even quite that! For one, it's a lot shorter (not even one line break! oh no!), and for two, it's the conclusion chapter of the first arc. Good news comes with bad, I suppose. Chapter 9-17 marks the second arc, and 17-22/23 marks the third—just so you all know. Now, enough stalling, let's begin the chapter.**

* * *

He breathed in the fresh air; it was another fine day in Konoha. Hatake Kakashi squinted against the the sun's rays, wishing that he'd picked a shadier place to have his team meet. As he turned his gaze to look out over the field of their designated Training Ground, he couldn't help but admire the odd rhythm to his students' motions; after so many years of observing others—despite it being in a drastically different context—he'd come to have a subtle appreciation for the finer patterns of things, whether it be of human, animal, insect or plant.

Though it may seem that he wasn't paying careful, or consistent attention to _what_ exactly his students were doing, he, in fact, was. While making his way to the bordering trees, seeking shade, he kept a watchful eye on his students, scrutinizing their form as they ran through the drills that he had come to establish in the past week.

First, they would go through rudimentary physical conditioning exercises, then, following that, they'd engage in light sparring which he would, typically, supervise. Today, though, he was content to observe them from afar; he'd made it clear to them the day before that they should be familiar enough with the routine to critique each other's work from time to time. Although he was confident that they could handle the routine, coupled with missions, he did find himself questioning their dynamic. _'Was my squad ever like that?'_ he wondered.

He eventually reached a suitable tree, and let himself steadily recline against it. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling his body temperature significantly drop with the introduction of the shade. With his top priority—cooling himself down—successfully checked off of his psuedo-to-do list, he returned his sights to his hard-working squad. What he saw was not unusual: Naruto was insistent in his voicing of his desire to spar with the aloof Sasuke, and as usual, Sasuke was attempting to physically distance himself from the orange-clad, harbinger of clamor, wanting to spare himself the 'time,' and 'effort.' Didn't he realize that by avoiding Naruto, he was missing the entire point of these exercises? _'Probably.'_ Kakashi mentally sighed.

In observing Sasuke, snootily sauntering away from his fellow squad-mates, Kakashi couldn't help but be drawn back to some of the vague, fragmented memories of his own beginnings.

"I am here for a reason..." he faintly heard Sasuke's voice begin.

_"I am here for a reason. My goal, and purpose, is to grow into an upstanding Shinobi that may follow in my Father's footsteps and become a valuable asset to Konohagakure. I do not have time for games," a young Kakashi recited firmly, lazily, but steadily, eyeing the indignant boy who stood before him._

_"What?!" Uchiha Obito shouted. "All I asked for was your name!" he followed up, jabbing an accusing finger in Kakashi's direction._

_"It was the way you asked. This improptu assembly is to make us aware of the teammates that we've been assigned, and nothing more," Kakashi responded._

_"I'm on your team! What's wrong with me knowing your name, huh?!"_

_"I don't know that," he said, before pausing. "For all I know, you could be a spy." He turned to face Obito fully, levelly regarding him with both eyes. "I'm content to wait here a legitimate instructor can validate your claim."_

_Obito let out a low growl as he tried to contain his frustration. The sight of Kakashi's plain stare only served to further aggravate him, though, to a point of him furiously grasping at his hair, trying to rip it out._

_For a moment, Kakashi raised an intrigued eyebrow. 'I do hope he's a spy. Being on a squad with him would be difficult.' A faint call of 'Hey!' drew Kakashi's attention over his shoulder. The sight that greeted him was that of girl, who was seemingly a few years older than him. _

_Kakashi had entered and graduated the Ninja Academy at a surprisingly young age. At the age where most prospective ninja would consider joining, Kakashi had graduated. In doing this, he'd graduated with a class that was several years ahead of him—perhaps as many as 5—and so, he expected to be younger than his assigned squad. At the moment, he was on the brink of turning six. This girl, who was still currently approaching at a mild jog, appeared to be about 9._

_She had smooth, chin-length mahogany-brown hair that framed her face, as well as two distinctive purple, rectangular markings that came up across her cheeks—Kakashi could only assume that these were traditional for her family. Looking into her eyes, he was greeted with a pleasantly happy glow, that her dark irises seemed to exude. Kakashi couldn't help but smile, albeit barely._

_As she neared, the girl came to a slow walk. She stopped, finding herself drawn to the—admittedly short—kind and official face that observed her. "Hi!" she greeted, extending a hand to the boy in front of her. "I am Nohara Rin."_

_Without much thought, Kakashi quickly accepted the hand and proceeded to shake it firmly. "Hello," he paused for a moment, "Hatake Kakashi," he finished._

_Obito had since calmed himself, but now he found that he had an entirely new reason to be upset. "Hey!" he exclaimed, drawing curious looks from both Kakashi and Rin to himself. "You gave _her_ your name!"_

_"It's because of how she asked," Kakashi simply replied._

_"Psh, yeah right! She didn't even ask!" he retorted._

_"Exactly."_

_As interruption to Obito's recurring fit of rage, Rin interjected, peering around Kakashi for a better look at the young Uchiha, "Hey... Is that you, Obito?"_

_Obito's mood instantly changed direction. He blushed lightly, not able to make eye contact with his (obvious) crush. "Y-Yeah. Hey, Rin."_

_She smiled, before turning to look back to Kakashi. "So, is this our team?"_

_As Kakashi was about to respond, a voice emanated from behind them, causing them all to jump. "I can confirm that," a flak-jacket wearing blond man answered, jumping down from the tree he'd been waiting in._

_He looked the three of them over. "So, we're all here, then?" _

_'This should be interesting...'_

Withdrawing from the memory, Kakashi found his eyes still following Sasuke. _'Hmm,'_ he considered, as he watched the Uchiha, _'I guess we are alike... in more ways than I'd like to accept.'_

Sasuke was now seated, defiantly, beneath the shady cover of a tree that was situated to the side of the training field, with his eyes closed and arms folded about his chest.

Kakashi squinted slightly, trying to focus his view. _'I've had years to learn from my mistakes, and, luckily, I'm different in the ways that I am. Perhaps I'll have to suppress my tendancy to make bad decisions, in order to help him.'_

With a sigh, he let his gaze drift to the still-active Naruto and Hinata. He found Hinata to be tending to a wound that Naruto had apparently sustained during his vigorous self-instated routine. He admired the gentle interaction. _'I don't know what I'm trying to do, though. Comparing my old life to this new one that I'm trying to create; things cannot be the same, if they were, there would be no meaning to trying to escape... Maybe that's what I want.'_

_"Kakashi-kun, you really shouldn't train so intensely!" his mother gently admonished. She was currently meticulously tending to his numerous wounds, rubbing a medicinal salve over each of them before gently covering them with a patch of gauze._

_As she finished with the last scrape, she placed her hands against his slight shoulders, bringing him to look her in the eyes. "Promise me you'll take it easy, alright?" she nearly pleaded._

_Kakashi held her gaze for a moment, before doing his meager best to look over her shoulder. "Tō-sama," he called, drawing a peacable drawl of "Hmm...?" from his otherwise occupied father. "Please, Tō-sama, ask Mother to be reasonable."_

_Hatake Sakumo lifted his eyes, just barely, from his book to look between his two precious family members. Catching Kakashi's eye, he let his own eyes scan over the four year-old's slight frame, littered with bandages. He chuckled, before turning to his wife, "Yumi, please, let the boy train; he's just motivated, he won't hurt himself too bad," he paused to turn to Kakashi, "Will you, Kakashi?"_

_"No, Tō-sama," Kakashi simply responded._

_She let out a subdued groan of frustration, "Sakumo! I can't win when you guys team up on me like tha-," she paused, as a shocked expression came over her face. Desperately gasping for breath, she doubled over._

_"Yumi!" Sakumo exclaimed, jumping to his feet, he rushed to his wife's side. Placing his hand on her back, he skillfully patted and massaged it, trying to coerce breath from her body. "Breathe, Yumi, breathe!"_

_Kakashi stepped back. He would have been stunned, but this had been happening for as long as he could remember. He wanted his mother to be alright; Kakashi was not cold-hearted, and he held a deep love for his family, even to the point of idolizing his father. But... he was four, what could he do? He did not know. What he would not do, though, was cry. He looked on, stiffly waiting for it to be over. Unknowingly, he retreated further into the inadequate cover of his mask._

_Yumi eventually sucked in a shaky stream of oxygen. The oxygen was a shock to her system, though, and she instantly began to cough in spasms. _

_Sakumo brought his free hand to rest against the side of her neck, attempting to soothe her strained larynx and esophagus. "It's okay, love," he whispered to her, "it'll be alright, just hold on... please..." It was evident to Kakashi that his father was trying to coax _himself_ through the pain of watching his mother, more than he was trying to reassure her. She knew that it would not be alright. Truth be told, anyone who looked upon her heavy eyes, pale skin and rapidly weakening form could tell: it would not be alright._

_Kakashi looked up to see his father returning with a glass of water, which he shakily extended to his wife, praying that she would take it. Yumi reached out for the glass, but upon gripping it, another seizure of coughing overtook her. Kakashi watched as the glass fell to the ground and shattered; Kakashi knew—despite his being unaware of it at the time—that this was likened to what was happening to his father's heart at the moment, as he watched his once resplendent wife deteriorating before his eyes._

_"Kakashi," he heard; his father's voice brought him from his daze, "go... go get your mother a t-towel," his father weakly requested._

_He nodded, before turning to depart._

_In truth, Sakumo didn't want his son to witness the bloody mess of tissue and skin that his mother held in her hands. A bloody mess that she only continued to add to as Kakashi walked away, trying to block out the sound._

_'Later on, I joined the Anbu so that I could perfect that mask that I'd unknowingly developed over the years...' _Kakashi felt a surge of old emotion attacking his heart once again. _'There's a reason I buried everything, but was it really for the best?'_ He looked up, upon hearing a distant chorus of laughter, to see Naruto joyously laughing at a downed, brooding Sasuke. Kakashi gave a weak smile, "At least he seems happy."

Kakashi felt a dim glow of chakra emanating from just beyond his side-peripheral. He didn't react, though, as he knew who it was.

"Indeed he does, Kakashi," Sarutobi Hiruzen observed, as he placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi greeted.

"So, it would seem that you passed them, they're official Genin of Konoha now!" he said, happily.

Kakashi nodded; his eyes were still fixed on his team, in a sort of longing stare.

"Kakashi..." Hiruzen began, "what seems to be troubling you? I would think that you would be excited to have a more active role in the field, and with a team at that. It's a new experience; you have always taken well to your work."

"I suppose I do," Kakashi admitted, before adding, "I was just deep in thought, is all, Hokage-sama. I am not neglecting my responsibilities, I assure you."

The elderly Hokage coughed out an amused chuckle. "No one has accused you of neglect, Kakashi. I am simply concerned for your well-being; are you sure that you're alright?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'm not. It's..."

"Are you unsure of your team selection, Kakashi?"

Kakashi immediately responded, "No!" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, surprised—though not upset—by Kakashi's tone. "I mean... no, Hokage-sama. I'm certain that this team is perfectly balanced, and, that it is essential that they stay together," he clarified.

"Then what is it that bothers you?" he further inquired. "You are usually relatively calm and self-assured."

"Uncertainty..."

Hiruzen brought a hand forward to stroke his beard, as he lowered his head in contemplation. He steadily stroked, running his fingers against the coarse, brittle hair. "Kakashi..."

Kakashi lightly stiffened under the man's touch, he'd been all but unaware of it, before now. With a sharp exhale, he turned to regard him with his visible eye, with the shade of the tree hiding the growing weariness carving itself about Kakashi's complexion. "I'm uncertain about myself..." he admitted.

Hiruzen opened one eye, relieving himself of stressful thought. He held Kakashi's unsteady gaze.

_Team Minato stood around their recently promoted co-commander, Kakashi, observing in varying degrees of awe as the air around Kakashi popped and snapped as a result of the bright lightning crackling to life in Kakashi's braced, open palm. The energy sizzled, drawing out Kakashi's focus along with his chakra—it was clear that it took a great amount of control to even sustain the technique._

_Minato stood slightly to the side, observing Kakashi's newest technique. He'd already reasoned that this was no time to be demonstrating proto-techniques, but this was Kakashi's special day, and, he was here: he had to relent. At the moment, they were in densely guarded forests, trying to take out the Iwagakure spies that they all could sense, but not see, openly. They needed to proceed past this virtual barricade before they could proceed to their real mission. Kakashi's objective was to take down the spies, if anything, he figured, this would draw them out. With that thought in mind, he kept a hand clenched on his nearest on-hand kunai, ready to strike should Kakashi's attempt fail._

_"Woah," Obito commented, wide-eyed, "what's that technique called!"_

_Kakashi spared him no answer, and payed him no mind. His question was answered, however, when Kakashi decided to begin his charge._

_"It's a technique I created for Raiton-users, by studying you,"__—_he turned to Minato_—_"sensei."

_Kakashi turned back to the gaping maw of the dense tree cover, his hand was poised to strike as he finished charging the technique. He swung his arm to the side, gripping it as it flew, before promptly burying it in the ground in conjunction with starting a mild run. "__**Chidori**__" he shouted, before rapidly increasing his speed with the drop of the last letter._

_He tore through the forest, shredding ground and trees alike as he sped through like a torrential hurricane. He stepped, swerved and ducked under branches and around stones, before beginning his ascent into the trees, hoping for better vision and more accurate sensory from a higher position. He was in luck. Detecting presence of chakra to his immediate right, he veered off course, nearly falling, before plunging his hand straight through the unseen enemy and the tree. When he extracted his still lightning-covered hand from the tree, the 'enemy' he had 'killed' fell into a sizzling stew of mud. Kakashi shifted his vision between the charred tree and the Doton: Kage Bunshin, before swiveling his head around to scan the area. "That doesn't make sense..." he whispered to himself._

_Out of the pile of mud, two hands formed and latched on to his ankles, making him snap his head back. 'Shit,' he thought, 'it still had chakra in it! How could I have...'_

_Seemingly out of thin air, an obvious Iwagakure ninja seemed to manifest, having dropped his basic supplementary jutsu. "Hah, nice try, kid. I was on the branch right above us..." Kakashi's eyes widened, he could feel the Chidori rapidly dissipating—that technique had used over one-third of his chakra. 'How could I have been so ignorant...'_

_The enemy ninja continued, "Lucky I didn't get hit with that technique, too. Even if I'd survived, it would have diffused any Earth-natured chakra that I molded; I would be a sitting du**—**," he said, before being cut off by a silencing slash to his jugular vein._

_"You were anyway," Minato spoke, almost inaudibly, from behind the man. He watched as the man crumpled to the ground, motionless, before turning back to Kakashi, "Kakashi... That was a dangerous move that I advise you not to use again unless you have a perfect shot with it. Your body can't react to the rapid changes in direction and angle that, that technique requires to remain stable in motion; therefore, it makes you far too easy to hit and/or predict..."_

_Kakashi regarded his sensei with stunned eyes. He was caught between feeling respectful, indebted, honored... happy or, feeling vulnerable, angry, weak and foolish._

_Minato watched him with an accepting gaze; he knew how Kakashi was feeling right now. As much as he wanted to give the boy space, though, he had to make his point clear. It was his responsibility as a sensei._

_Too conflicted to speak, Kakashi merely nodded, before annoyedly kicking, to break the grip of the lifeless mud-hands still clasped around his ankles. With one last glance at Minato, he deftly leapt off of the high branch, wanting to simply continue the mission, and move on._

_Minato gave a sad frown; if there was on part of being someone's mentor that he didn't like, it was surely this part._

Kakashi's eyes regained their focus as his mind returned to the present. Noticing that Hiruzen was still steadily observing him, he continued his previous line of thought, "I'm uncertain about myself, but, it doesn't matter. I have to try," he looked to his students, and saw that Sasuke had finally slunk his way back into the light of the day, "they deserve it."

Hiruzen smiled at Kakashi. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Kakashi. I admit that I don't know everything, but Minato spoke to me a lot; whatever happened in the past, Kakashi... whatever it may be, know that the blame does not solely fall on your shoulders."

Kakashi eyed him curiously. "What do you mean by that, H-Hokage-sama."

The Hokage contorted his face into a wizened smile. "What I mean, Kakashi, is that people make mistakes. You have had a hard life, a harder life than most men should have to live, but, if you ever want to truly move forward and make your life one worth living, you have to do the same thing that nature does."

He shuffled his free hand out of the confines of his robe, reaching it out to catch a falling leaf. The leaf had signs of decay: it had a noticeable hole in it, forming an oddly crusted 'C,' as well as several signs of yellowing. "Nature sheds its skin and begins again, Kakashi." His smile widened as he held the leaf up for Kakashi to view, "This tree has probably been here for years, but the ground it lives on has existed for thousands. The land has been through so much struggle, Kakashi, yet it keeps moving forward and grows beyond all of that."

He let out a soft chuckle as he let the leaf fall from his loose grasp; he watched as it continued its cascade down to the inviting bed of green grass. "You do not have to forget; the land always remembers, and it grows from those memories... But, let them make you better. Find your own process Kakashi. Grow."

Hiruzen turned to watch the Genin again. What he saw made him smile even more sincerely: they were working together again, training each other as a unit. What really caught Hiruzen's wise eye, though, was Naruto's vibrant grin: he was _happy_, regardless of the earlier situation. "It's what he does, you know..."

Kakashi turned at the sound of the warm laugh, to be met with a smile that personified the sun. He couldn't help but let out a sigh as he smiled back at the scene. _'Maybe they _are_ getting it...'_

"It would certainly seem so, Hokage-sama," he said. It was clear that his spirits had been lifted, though. It poured off of him in copious amounts. Kakashi carefully nestled his hand into his pocket, only to bring it out delicately clutching his prized, orange pocket-book.

"Oh! Is that the new one?" Hiruzen inquired, his interest piqued.

Kakashi chuckled. _'Perhaps we're the ones that need the training.'_

* * *

**Next Time: Chapter 9 - Hazed Prospect**


	10. Hazed Prospect

**Book 1**

**Awakening**

**Chapter 9 - Hazed Prospect**

**A/N: Thank you, to those of you who reviewed, for the positive response; I'm glad that you're enjoying it. However, something that I've noticed is that a lot of my 'regulars,' as far as reviewing goes, have seemingly dropped off of the map. Where're you guys at? And, to that point, what is it exactly that you guys are finding uninteresting? I've said this many times, and I'm getting tired of repeating myself: If this story is feeling too slow, or too boring... it picks. The. Hell. Up. In the grand scheme of things, an eight-chapter introduction is incredibly short; and, although it may seem or feel long to you now, looking back a few months from now, it won't. But, if it isn't the pace that's deterring people, then I have no idea what it is, so, would anyone care to enlighten me?**

**Next, someone's review brought this small point to mind that I thought I should state as fact before it becomes something that others adopt as common practice: There's no need to point out any typos or grammar blips that you may stumble over and upon throughout the chapter. I can promise that you will not find many (if any), and those you do find will be caught by me within the next day or so. Even to this day, I still haven't been able to commit myself to even a brief, diligent editing schedule/habit; so, although I try to ensure quality for you guys and girls, I don't do nearly as much as I think I should (sad, right?)**

**So, I'll do my best, but, if you ever notice anything **_**inexcusable**_**, please, by all means, let me know.**

**On a similar note, I've finally gotten a better word-processor, so...! That means, that I can finally use "em-dashes." For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about: **

**Em: ****—**

**En: - (essentially a hyphen) **

**I'm sure a lot of you don't care, but I find it liberating!**

**Helekiller2: **Originally I wasn't going to do any responses; but, when you reviewed, I felt that I had to. For anyone that wasn't clear on the subject, this is **one. Continuous. Story.** For a good comparator, I refer you to the _Harry Potter_ books; much like those books, this story will simply be divided, but not 'separate,' per se. Now, you may be thinking, "Why isn't it just consolidated?" or "Why is it necessary to include books at all?" Those are good questions, but they honestly have simple answers: management, organization, and symbolism. Contrary to other epics that implement a similar strategy, these books will all flow into each other, and, if anything, merely be separated by a brief time-skip. I hope that answers any questions that you may have had.

**With all of that aside, welcome to the second arc of Book 1. And, without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 9.**

**P.S.: Sorry about the two-month-long hiatus, everyone. It will not happen again in the foreseeable future.**

* * *

Kurenai was at a loss. She simply couldn't wrap her mind around the pink-haired enigma that was her least productive student. In the past few days, she had dedicated her time, and all but disregarded her other student's progress to figure out the best way to handle the task that she'd set herself unto, but alas, she was stumped.

In time with the crescendo of the wind's whistle, Kurenai absent-mindedly called out cues to the active portion of her squad; but her mind was still stuck on Sakura. She watched the young girl pick at her locks of hair with a worn ornamental brush, and fiddle with the grass at her hind-side, presumably trying to convince herself that a better day was coming. As far as Kurenai was concerned, it was not. Nevertheless, something had to be done.

Inuzuka Kiba continued to step through the motions, but he'd long since caught on to the same hints of irregularity that his counterpart, Aburame Shino, had. Hand extended, he half-heartedly slapped at Shino's loosely-held block. "Oi, Shino," he mumbled, with a sideways glance cast at their distracted sensei.

Shino replied with a nod, already acknowledging his squad-mate's concern. He drew his feet into a relaxed stance. "Do you know anything about this?" The sunlight glinted off of his glasses.

Kiba winced slightly, but one couldn't really say with certainty if it were an expression of scrutiny, or an act to shield his eyes from the inconveniently angled glasses. "No," he let out in a low growl, "but it's really slowing down our training, and it's getting annoying! Especially without Akamaru here!" He shrugged his shoulders in irritation, only to get his arm caught in an awkward position within the sleeve. "Argh!" Twisting and turning, the struggling continued as he wriggled around within his own jacket, like an animal trapped in a plastic bag.

The Aburame looked on, curious, but not daring to be amused. He was an Aburame after all, and his counterpart was an Inuzuka: he wanted to avoid dealing with unnecessary emotion as much as possible, from himself and his teammates. But still, something in the back of his mind insisted that Kiba's struggling was amusing, and he couldn't help but crack a subtle smirk. "Hm," he barely whispered, struggling to suppress the unintentional display.

But even from within his disarrayed clothing, Kiba still managed a, "Hey!" Heaving, he finally extricated himself from the thick jacket, flinging it off his head. "Damn that thing!"

The tension in the air told Shino that it was the perfect time to realign the topic of conversation, so he proceeded, "You seem frustrated."

"What makes you say that?" Kiba challenged, with a little more edge than necessary.

Shino merely stared... again.

"Why do you always do that?!" he demanded. "You always just stare at me like it's gonna give me some kinda answer or something! Well, it's not!"

Shino knew that his life outside of his clan would require adjustment... but this seemed a bit ridiculous, even from what his clan had forewarned him about. Then again, he had the circumstances to consider. Who was he, if not someone who could adapt? After all, they all had their short-comings.

"Kiba," he started, pausing for attention, "myself and your jacket are not the issue, nor is Akamaru being left out of this preliminary training." Shino stopped, but as he saw Kiba raising a hand, he finished, "I apologize for being brief. I am not accustomed to such dynamic socialization yet; however, I will make it my mission to improve."

The Inuzuka deflated. "Well damn, man. When you say that... I guess I was overreacting a bit. It's just so frustrating, ya know?" he spoke with a sigh of resignation. Not leaving room for an answer, he nervously curled his lips into a grin, revealing prominent canines, before turning and jogging through the even waves of grass to retrieve his jacket.

Shino barely nodded; though he didn't show it, he was inwardly satisfied with the results of his initiative. "I believe we do have something of importance at hand, however," he said, only half speaking to Kiba.

Drawn from his activity, Kiba looked up from adjusting the fur-rimmed hood of his jacket, to notice Shino facing their now entirely distracted, contemplative sensei, eyeing the distant Haruno Sakura.

_'It's still n-not perfect...'_ She pressed the brush against her scalp, before pulling back forcefully, letting the uncooperative strands of hair futilely struggle against the rubber bristles, only to end up de-rooted. _'Sasuke-kun is coming home today. He'll want to see me...' _She repeated the motion, with increased force. _'I haven't spoken to Sasuke-kun in a while... he'll surely w-want to see me.'_ Though she could not see her hair from the eyes of her observers, she knew it to not be perfect; Sakura was disturbed by her _hair_'s lack of interest in Sasuke's return. Why would her body not cooperate? She gritted her teeth, renewing her effort with indigestable brutality.

A hand firmly clasped Sakura's wrist, impeding the further damaging of her follicles, and drawing the girl's attention up through her disheveled bangs to the face staring directly back at her.

"Sakura, that's enough." Kurenai asserted.

With a quick jerk of her wrist, Sakura managed to extricate herself, but only ended up looking more foolish, flinging the battered brush across the field in the process. "What?" she said with a sardonic tinge, evident in the pitchy rasp that her voice had been reduced to.

Kurenai hardened her stare. "I will not allow you to disrupt our progress as a team any longer!" She retracted her arm, crossing it over and under the other in an effort to reinforce her stance. "I am not just going to stand here and pretend that I don't see, and _hear_ you mumbling to yourself, obsessing over that damned Uchiha boy!"

Sakura's expression briefly faulted, in her thinking, _'I was speaking...?'_ but she quickly returned to her favored look of distaste.

"You have a responsibility as a ground citizen of Konohagakure to function as a proper unit of this team, Sakura." Kurenai continued, "You cannot expect such leniency, especially if you hope to advance in rank and reputation." She began to turn, motioning Sakura to follow in step, "Now... come back, and we'll beg**—**"

She stood up all at once, making a point in her hurry to reclaim the focus of her sensei's crimson eyes. "No!" she shouted. "You don't know what I need!"

Kurenai turned back to her, with strain evident in the creases adorning her upper brow, tugging at the frame of her face. "Sa**—**"

"And," she hissed, stressing the word, "I don't need this!" Rapidly turning, Sakura began a defiant, shaky stomp through the field. As she went, her commonplace idiosyncracies seemed to make way for nervous twitches, and anxious dread. She had forgotten the brush entirely.

From a distance, Kiba and Shino observed the unfolding of the events from a vantage point; although they were the most well informed, they knew least of all how to react.

Shino gave a subtle glance to his newfound**—**as he had decided**—**friend, but ultimately let his gaze settle on the discarded brush. He squeezed his hand in the pocket of his protective coat, setting ripples in the fabric as he started unto the article.

* * *

The daylight shone through cracks in the tree-cover, cleanly dividing the shadows and speckling the shaded path that bore four people, all walking in-flock, but out of step with one another, with pockets of diffused light. The light could not cleave the dense mood that hung over the group, however, and it certainly could not displace Naruto from his frustrations.

Naruto's sandals kicked against the dirt path metronomically, but with a reserved enough force so as not to stir up debris or nearby creatures, and to as to not draw any _more_ attention to himself. Maybe he wanted attention.

Naruto walked at the southern point of the rhombic formation of Team 7, pushing the loaded cart that was entrusted to his group, alone. He gnawed at his lip, trying to shave the flake of dead skin that he, typically, would not have paid any mind; everything always seemed more deliberate when you were left with no one to consider but yourself. _'Urgh,'_ he held the grumble in his mind, a drop of sweat falling from his brow, right before the eye that he had let drift back to Sasuke. Unsure if he was watching the droplet or the Uchiha, he turned to Hinata, who was unfortunately fascinated with her index fingers, which rubbed against each other in memorized patterns.

With an inaudible _plip_, the drop of sweat that had descended from Naruto's forehead fell against his lower-lip. Blinking once, slowly, coupled with a deep breath, he spoke. "Sasuke."

Again, "Sasuke," he said.

Sasuke was well aware of the call, but he disregarded it, instead making a conscious effort to angle himself away from the sound.

Hinata noticed this. "N-Naruto-kun... if**—**"

"Sasuke, help me push this"—he paused, panting—"cart. You're not doin' anything..." Naruto finished, unaware of Hinata's brief interleavance.

Sasuke didn't reduce his pace, but instead chose to passively cast his eyes over his shoulder; from his perspective, he was still looking down on the blond-headed ninja. He squinted, but made no further motion to indicate acknowledgement.

Naruto, despite his compromising position, held the rude stare. "Well?" he prompted, sucking in another dose of oxygen.

"No," said Sasuke; he promptly rolled his head towards Hinata, "and he doesn't need your help, either." Before Naruto could protest, Sasuke went on, "Our purpose is to guard the contents of the cart while we deliver it back to the village, right?"

"So?!" Naruto demanded.

"The weakest member of the group should be in the least demanding role," Sasuke replied, narrowing his eyes, acting as if it were the most plainly obvious thing to be seen.

"What are you trying to say, huh?!" Naruto raised his voice. Taking a step back, he readjusted the cart's bar in his hands; he winced—it seemed heavier than before.

"You're the weak link."

Still holding his eyes closed, he lowered his head, gritting his teeth; in the process, he entirely ignored the silent call of his friend, Hinata, who desperately wanted to reach out. She could only berate herself once more for her weakness: as much as she wanted to help him, she was too weak, and she was too weak, because she could not help him.

Pointing the group, Kakashi walked in silence, hands pocketed. _'They need to work this out on their own...' _

His steps echoed against the ground, and he couldn't help sighing in defeat, as he could feel the emptiness that he found in his hypocrisy eating at him.

And though he could, he would do nothing about it.

* * *

Konohagakure was at its daily pinnacle of commerce. The streets were full, the concoction of the many different voices and exclamations radiated positivity, energy and attentiveness, and the sun was shining brightly, enhancing the pleasant glow adorning the cheeks of merchants and consumers alike.

Set against the pleasant buzz, a virtual air of somberness cut through—albeit, less than smoothly—, bumping by, against and around the veritable crowd members; sarcastic "Excuse me?"s, and indignant "Hey!"s were thrown at the source of negativity, but they all seem to be deflected by the utter lack of attention being paid by the auto-centric, pink-haired girl.

She absent-mindedly shuffled her feet against the ground, doing her (unconscious) best to weave through the crowd. _'Why do they always have to bother me... S-Sasuke-kun wouldn't...'_

She bumped particularly roughly against a man, nearly falling forward from having the same courtesy returned to her frail frame. Though she stumbled, she did not pay any attention—it was not a setback.

Her head hung, _'Why... Sasuke-kun, please. I-I'd do anything... why do you ha—lo...'_ She shook her head violently, leaving her unruly hair in even more disarray. The action drew attention to her, but she did not notice. _'I... It... I trained—I became a ninja.'_ Sakura's hand wandered to her hair. Shakily, she pulled it through, grimacing at, but dismissing the knots as she stroked it. _'I keep my hair p-pretty for you...'_

Sakura's heart-beat began to increase rapidly, she could feel the palpitations, slamming against her chest cavity. The banging echoed in her ears, leaving a dull pain just beyond her reach, prodding at the inside of her fragile skull. She felt sweat stinging at her eyes—it may have been tears, but she would not have been able to distinguish. _'I... everything. What... w-what..'_

Her eyes noticeably dilated, in conjunction with the visual widening indicative of realization. An image of Hinata standing over her overpowered her visual sensory. _'The spar... _her_...'_

She stopped. The rustic door of her humble home stood before her. Even from the street, she could hear a faint screaming emanating from where she assumed to be the kitchen, but she was numb to it now. Placing her hand on the cold knob, her mind remained occupied by that singular, abhorrent association: '_Her,'_ she thought, as she quietly slipped into the house, her thoughts were not disturbed by the octave shatter of glass.

* * *

Several hours later, skating on the cusp of midday, Team 7 finally bordered Konoha. The mission had gone relatively smoothly, and Naruto, along with a tailing group, had deposited the valuable minerals they had been transporting at a refinery that hung on the edge of the village's defined territory.

Despite the success of the literal mission, the abstract purpose of the mission had been skirted entirely; in fact, it felt to Kakashi that they had regressed, rather than progressed as a unified squad. He knew this opinion was valid, but he couldn't hold himself to it out of guilt.

Kakashi was brought from his daze by Sasuke.

"Kakashi, can I leave? We completed the mission, and if you don't have anything else to tell us, I have more productive things to do," he informed bluntly.

This mindset disturbed Kakashi: while he was happy that Sasuke took a serious interest in his self-betterment, he seemed to have no regard for anyone else, which was incredibly unhealthy, especially at this stage of the game. He thought back to his first real encounter with the boy, as Ishika... Turning to Sasuke, he straightened his expression as he began to speak, "No," he started.

His declaration caught the attention of the rest of his team, who had been half-heartedly observing the village from the edge of the cliff they had chosen to rest on.

"W-We're going on another mission, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata hesitantly confirmed.

He turned his head to face her, nodding. "Yes..."—he turned to Naruto, angling his body to fully face the boy—"Naruto... are you up to it?"

"Of course! Dattebayo!" Naruto half shouted. The blues of his eyes quavered, reflecting the determination of a thousand men, hiding the intensity of a cobalt fire.

Hinata could clearly see that the interaction held more meaning than was apparent to the imprudent viewer. To be perfectly honest with herself, she felt that she had something to make up for as well; yet, while she doubted that it could be accomplished within, or by a single mission, she acknowledged the need to start somewhere.

Kakashi nodded, not bothering to validate Sasuke's position. "Let's go, then."

It was not long before the squad arrived at the Hokage Tower. Kakashi paused for a nigh on imperceptible glance at the glass window's that lined the Hokage's personal office; in this microcosm of time, his mind drifted to the conversation he had had the other day.

_"Kakashi... are you sure that they're ready for this?"_

_"I can't answer that question, Hokage-sama..."_

_The elderly Hokage inhaled the pipe-smoke, drawing relief from it while he held it in his chest, before expelling it as a lulling cloud. "I was hoping you could decide for them Kakashi."_

_"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, you know that I cannot do that..."_

_"You will have to eventually."_

_"I have more faith in them than I do in myself. I'm hoping they'll surprise me," he admitted._

_"This is not healthy for you, Kakashi..."_

_"It may not be, Hokage-sama, but it has to be done. It is the only way that I can grow—that they can grow."_

_"I promise," he added, "I will not fail; I will protect them."_

_"Very well, Kakashi." Hiruzen tugged at his beard, gently shading his eyes with his wizened lids. "Very well."_

_..._

However, before he could gather himself to reconsider, the sun's rays quickly fulfilled their part in deflecting his curiosity, and interrupting his deliberationhe moved on, ushering his team into the large tower.

As they navigated the winding halls of the tower, their feet clicked out an odd metronome against the lacquer flooring. Kakashi passively thought it mildly amusing how in-tune they were, despite their characteristic discord.

When they neared the mission dispatch office—discernable by the oddly neatly scrawled '任務派遣事務所,' marking a sign hanging from the door in red—Naruto charged ahead, clearly the most excited of the group.

The group disregarded his hyperactivity as normal, until they heard a shout of "Hey!" coming from the open door of the dispatch quarters. The group, headed by Kakashi, dashed to the source of the noise to find Naruto rudely pointing at a man whom Kakashi immediately recognized as their customer.

_'Just as they described him,' _he thought, _'...down to the type of liquor he'd be drinking...'_ He could scarcely feel a hesitant sweat making its way down his forehead, only covered by his overabundance of facial garnish.

A loud burp drew the silver-haired ninja's attention.

"Eyy...," slurred the man, who wore his sun-guarded, fisherman's hat at an awkward angle across his head, pointing back at Naruto with the same hand that held a (finished) bottle of Umeshu, with a purple label reading 'ゆず梅酒.' "Who's the midget who stole the headband?"

Kakashi merely sighed into his reserved, nod of a bow. "Good afternoon to you as well, Tazuna-san."

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for the short length, everyone, but hopefully that was a stimulating chapter, regardless. I know that you guys deserve better, but I can only give so much; I promise, from here on out, the story will gain momentum with each chapter.**

**P.S.: Codaram, I'll get to reviewing your latest work soon, since I'm on a brief intercession now. I have read it though (yes, all three). Nice lemon, no way it's your first try, cause that style was downright impressive, even to me!**

* * *

**Next Time: Chapter 10 - Beneath the Haze**


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